In 2021, Blackbirds FC released the singles 'Transport Planes' and 'Island Of The Dogs', the first tantalising introductions to their brand new album Magiclands, out on November 18th. Both singles had widespread airplay right across Australia on community radio, with the latter also getting a spin on Henry Wagons's Tower of Song on Double J. In the wake of the great radio response, the song debuted at #10 on the AMRAP Metro charts.
Now the Melbourne band are back with the equally sublime sound of the title track single 'Magiclands', a co-write between Jeremy Gronow and producer Cameron McKenzie. Rich and resonant, its melodies soar and sway with a heartwarming longing and romanticism, and a decidedly Australian indie rock sound. There’s a shout-out to Midnight Oil’s 'Wedding Cake Island' amid the gentle jangle and chug of the electric guitar, the chorus harmonies of Gronow and Gina Hearnden rising and gently crashing in unison like the waves the song references.
"'Magiclands' is about a favourite place," says singer and songwriter Gronow, "a wild surf break at Woolamai Beach on Phillip Island in southern Australia. For me, it's a calming place – the view from the cape is a great way to rest your eyes, and the white noise of the waves breaking blocks out your anxious inner voices."
As Jeremy goes on to explain, the song was inspired by a walk along the beach as a south-westerly storm rolled in. "As the waves and wind pounded the coast, it struck me that they had come all the way from the great Southern Ocean to be there. Each wave was at the climax of an epic journey. It got me thinking about how everything is interrelated and how obvious this is in nature."
"Later during Melbourne's lockdowns, I longed for the peace and perspective of Magiclands," Jeremy recalls. "I read about the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh who said, "Enlightenment is the moment when a wave realises it is the ocean," and the song became about how cities disconnect us from the natural world and in doing so from enlightenment."
lyrics
MAGICLANDS (Jeremy Gronow/Cameron Mckenzie)
Verse 1
I want to leave tonight
I cannot wake tomorrow
And step into this worn out charade
Hanging with the monkeys on the morning train
It isn’t very far
Maybe just an hour by car
And I can feel it when I close my eyes
When I’m at work it never leaves my mind
I don’t know another place for us tonight
Verse 2
I want to walk the cliffs
And look down from the cape
Find a little peace here
Find a little silence at the end of the day
It doesn’t matter how
It only matters where you are
At Magiclands its breaking left and right
The waves are standing on the morning tide
And you know everything will be alright
Chorus
Baby don’t you want to go down, tonight?
We’ll take the bridge over the water
Western Port nights and Woolamai mornings
Baby don’t you want to come down, tonight?
To where the waves know they’re part of the ocean
Can’t you hear Magiclands calling?
Verse 3
Why shouldn’t we want more?
How much has the city tried to swallow?
The concrete every day
I want to let the the wind wrap its arms around me
At Magiclands, its breaking left and right
The waves are standing on the morning tide
And you know everything will be alright
Chorus
Baby don’t you want to go down, tonight?
We’ll take the bridge over the water
Western Port nights and Woolamai mornings
Baby don’t you want to come down, tonight?
To where the waves know they’re part of the ocean
Can’t you hear Magiclands calling
Featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, and the Vanda’s Blackbirds FC play
their own brand of alt. country rock inspired by the Go-Betweens, The Church and Wilco.
Formed in 2017, the band released the EP Life Sciences in 2018 and their debut album Field Recordings in 2019.
The band are delighted to be releasing their second album Magiclands in November 2022....more
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