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STATE OF THE NATION
"What have we become?" Mark Seymour ponders on Mayday, his
new album with The Undertow. This is one of the great Australian
albums, a record that is about Australia in 2015, where
desperate asylum seekers are demonised, shock jocks are
screaming, mining workers have transient lives, billionaires
are moaning, the media is obsessed with celebrity, and it's
"one rule for the filthy rich, another one for the weak".
"The theme of home was something I was nursing for a long
time," Mark told Howzat!'s buddy Neil Rogers on Triple R.
"Places of safety that we're all pursuing." It's almost
ridiculous to say that an artist who's more than three decades
into his career and has written several Aussie classics
is in career-best form. But at a time when we need our artists
to say something, Mark Seymour has stood up, delivering
a set of songs so stirring you can't help but be moved.
"I got revolution in my head," he declares in the opening
track, Home Free, while later in the album he says simply:
"You gotta make a stand." Backed by The Undertow (Cameron
McKenzie, John Favaro and Peter Maslen), who are both sympathetic
and powerful, this is also an album that's going to sound
great live. It's being launched with a special theatre show,
at The National Theatre in St Kilda on 7 August. If you
miss the album's message - or don't want to think too much
- the melodies are so magical, you can just sing along or
pound the dash of your car. Songs for the head and the heart,
Mark Seymour has crafted a classic.
BIG BEN
Ben Lee's new album is all about love. It's called Love
Is The Great Rebellion, and it's a family affair, with his
wife, Ione Skye, and their daughter, Goldie, contributing
backing vocals, while Ben's father-in-law, '60s pop star
Donovan, is featured on Happiness. But Ben's also not afraid
to deal with death, with one song, Everybody Dies, addressing
the passing of his dad, who died when Ben was just 19. Ben
has also revealed he's got a part-time job as a "death midwife".
"I became increasingly interested in the death process and
working with the dying," explains Ben, who's playing at
the Northcote Social Club on 7 June. "I actually ended up
studying for a couple of years and became a certified death
midwife and a hospice volunteer, so I got training in how
to help people in the process of dying. I really believe
that dying doesn't have to be sad. Our society has made
death into a taboo, whereas it should be part of life."
ANGEL IN HEAVEN
We remember the great Doc Neeson, who died a year ago, on
4 June, of brain cancer, aged 67.
HOT LINE
"I carry the lantern, we look for the truth" - Mark Seymour
& The Undertow, Carry Me Home.
CHART WATCH
ARIA is now acknowledging Grace (full name: Grace Sewell)
as an Aussie act. Originally from Brisbane, Grace is now
based in the UK. Her cover of Lesley Gore's You Don't Own
Me is at number three this week, after spending one week
on top.
You Don't Own Me GRACE (number three)
Tonight Again GUY SEBASTIAN (12, debut)
Do You Remember JARRYD JAMES (23)
The Buzz HERMITUDE (24)
Big Girls Cry SIA (26)
Anchor EP BIRDS OF TOKYO (29)
Georgia VANCE JOY (37)
Anyone Who Had A Heart ANJA NISSEN (40, debut)
Hillsong United keep Daniel Johns' debut solo album out
of top spot.
Empires HILLSONG UNITED (number one, debut)
Talk DANIEL JOHNS (two, debut)
Dark Night Sweet Light HERMITUDE (seven)
1000 Forms Of Fear SIA (16)
Love Child Season 2 VARIOUS ARTISTS (19, debut)
Spirit Of The Anzacs LEE KERNAGHAN (25)
The Rules of Attraction TIM ROGERS & THE BAMBOOS (26, debut)
Dream Your Life Away VANCE JOY (27)
Walking Under Stars HILLTOP HOODS (30)
Run ALISON WONDERLAND (31)
The Very Best INXS (36)
Skydancer IN HEARTS WAKE (38)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
Carry Me Home MARK SEYMOUR
Strange Feeling SHELLEY SEGAL
I'll Live And I'll Die DAN PARSONS
Wrap Me In A Fever RUBY BOOTS
Everybody Dies BEN LEE
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