With
two critically acclaimed albums, a fistful of EPs and a whole lot of passport
stamps behind them, The Boat People are a band that have a come a long way since
they started playing together as high school friends in a little town two hours
outside of Brisbane, Australia. With the release of their third album, 'Dear Darkly',
the band have cast aside all the rules to deliver their most diverse work to date.
They've
played The Great Escape UK, CMJ Music Marathon NYC, toured the UK twice and the
US three times including shows at SXSW, The Viper Room, Spaceland, Pianos and
a live set on Morning Becomes Eclectic KCRW as well as rotation on over 20 radio
stations across the US and a bunch of TV syncs to boot. They've also nabbed slots
at some of Australia's biggest festivals and supported David Byrne, The Shins
and Midlake.
Those three acts are a good place to start to describe the
band's sound - expansive, unconventional pop with a blush of wry optimism and
romance. While Australia is probably best known O/S for meat-and-potatoes rock
'n' roll a-la AC/DC, The Boat People represent a perhaps lesser known part of
the country's musical landscape, more in the spirit of Brisbane legends The Go
Betweens.
In the UK their second album 'Chandeliers' was given 4 stars by
Uncut Magazine and picked by Planet Sounds as one of the top 50 albums of 2008,
while Australia's Mess + Noise said "A genuinely great Australian pop album…as
good as anything you will hear in the genre this year". US tastemaker Nic
Harcourt called them "My favourite Australian band".
While 'Chandeliers'
was three years in the making, the band changed their approach for new album 'Dear
Darkly', opting to work quickly and with a wider palette. Produced by John Castle
(Washington) in Melbourne where half the band now resides, it is perhaps at risk
of being deemed 'eclectic' by those who never set their iPods to shuffle. In truth
it is the sound of a band no longer asking who they are but simply being it. The
album ranges through inky-soul and Triffids-inspired surf guitar, fey garage rock,
absurdest lyrics, programmed beats, Asperges mantras and the odd bedroom recording
of a nervous breakdown, not to mention the essentials - love, loss, escape and
despair. On 'Dear Darkly', all of these things float together above the ground,
well inland from the East Coast of the National consciousness. It is music made
after reaching out across the world for the first time. It is what you bring back
from there and knowing where you belong.
THE BOAT PEOPLE: DEAR DARKLY
ALBUM TOUR + Special guests TBA
Thursday, July 15 | The Harpe, Wollongong
Friday
July 16 | Spectrum, Sydney
Thursday July 22 | Bon Amici, Toowoomba
Friday
July 23 | The Sound Lounge, Gold Coast
Saturday July 24 | The Troubadour, Brisbane
Sunday
July 25 | Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Friday July 30 | Workers Club, Melbourne
Saturday
July 31 | Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong
For full support and ticketing
details go to: www.myspace.com/theboatpeople
'Dear Darkly' (featuring the singles 'Echo Stick Guitars', 'Soporific' and 'Under
The Ocean') is available in-stores and via iTunes now.
