Most likely Australia’s only seven-piece “eucalyptus dream pop” outfit, south coast Sydney outfit Shining Bird are back with a new album, Black Opal.
To bring this one together, Russell, Alaistair, and Dane retreated to Austinmer and Blackheath in NSW to write and record, wrestling with the songwriting process and emerging with a shiny new record at the end of it.
Fresh off a slot at Yours & Owls festival and now in the middle of their national album launch tour (dates below), the band’s keyboardist and electronic maestro Russell took a moment to run us through the long road of songwriting experimentation that led them all here.
I CAN RUN
This was one of the first tunes we finished for Black Opal. It reminded me how fragile the mixing process is, and how much it can alter the meaning of a song. The difference between a cluttered mess and a compelling sound environment was literally a matter of 0.1 decibels on the chorus vocals.
Another turning point was when our good friend Adam Rogan (Catman), who helped out with drums on this record, noted how the track seemed to roll in like a storm. From that point on it became clearer how to structure the beast.
HELLUVA LOT
This one was Dane’s initial conception, But after bringing it to the mountains the track developed into something much bigger and more expansive. For this whole album, I got into the habit of playing back the mixes with videos from YouTube.
Somehow it allowed me to tease out ideas from the song that appeared first as images in my head. Helluva Lot was always played with sweeping aerial views of the Australian outback. Tim Whitten really helped us take this one to the next level. He also taught us to feel ok about our unorthodox methods of writing and mixing.
MORNING LIGHT
I can’t think of a Bird tune where I’ve written more options for verse lyrics only to go with the “demo” ones that came out within minutes of hearing the groove. Songwriting is infuriating like that. What really set this one on fire was Al’s ‘electrocuted serial killer’ guitar and Will’s ( Will Farrier- You Beauty ) fretless bass.
Dane has a tendency to skin his knuckles when we play this one live. The back end often turns into Midnight Oil and Coltrane having a fight with Rowland S Howard and Cluster.
LOVE SHADOW
The melody for Love Shadow had been lurking around for ages. One day Al sang me the chorus idea whilst having an outdoor shower, and with nothing but the sound of water hitting rocks to back him up, I knew it was solid. It has the most attitude of any Bird song thus far.
UTOPIA
Nearly every Bird song gets to a point where I hate everything about it. I try my usual bag of tricks and when that doesn’t work i delete half the parts and tell myself it might work as a B-side. Then we come back to it months later and it’s great.
CHARLIE
The didgeridoo on this track was played by Charlie McMahon (Gondwanaland). We approached him over the net and he was more than happy to feature on the song. We’re always blown away when we approach artists and musicians we worship and they are keen to be involved.After our sax player Michael Slater laid down his beautiful solo we figured this one could hold it’s own without vocals.
RIVERMOUTH
Leisure Coast was actually quite a dark record. Something i don’t think a casual listen would necessarily reveal. Rivermouth was the first of several songs that wanted to head into a subtle but completely new direction.
It sounds more ‘awake’, the focus is sharper and it contains more than a glimmer of hope and determination. Rivermouth was a really special combination of all three of us. It’s one of the most beautiful songs we have captured so far.
BURIED
Buried is a great example of the new writing process that fuelled much of ‘Black Opal’. Dane, Al and myself jammed out ideas in a beautiful little cabin in Blackheath and created sketches that were live and organic rather than programmed in the studio. We made daily visits to the Wind Eroded Rock, Govetts Leap and Anonymous cafe.
Location is the hidden member when it comes to creating bird songs. Writing from the Blue Mountains was no different. It coloured and shaped the songs in a certain way.
LONELY SONG
…Everything except language
knows the meaning of existence.
Trees, planets, rivers, time
know nothing else. They express it
moment by moment as the universe.
Even this fool of a body
lives it in part
and would
have full dignity within it
but for the ignorant freedom
of my talking mind…
– Les Murray
BLACK OPAL ALBUM TOUR
Fri October 7th – Crown & Anchor, Adelaide – Tickets
Sat October 8th – Cudgee Bar, Woomera – Free show
Sun October 9th – Monte’s Lounge, Alice Springs – Tix on door
Mon October 10th – Outback Pioneer Hotel, Uluru – Free show
Thu November 3rd – Treehouse, Byron Bay (acoustic) – Free Show
Fri November 4th – Deadlam Festival, Brisbane – Tickets
Fri November 11th – Gasometer, Melbourne – Tickets
Sat November 12th – The Commercial Hotel, Milton – Tickets
Wed November 16th – Newtown Social Club, Newtown – Tickets
Fri November 18th – Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul
