POWDERFINGER
release new album
‘UNRELEASED’
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Photo credit – Ian Jennings
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With 12 kids and three states between them, even informal Powderfinger reunions don’t happen very often these days. But for a short stint in March 2019, the band found themselves together again at LaCueva, the picturesque studio co-owned by singer Bernard Fanning and longtime collaborator Nick DiDia.
In a band room overlooking the Byron Bay hinterland, they had gathered to compile outtakes for the 20-year anniversary reissue of their game changing album Odyssey Number Five. That’s how the happy accident of Unreleased came to be. An album of recently unearthed material, it spans a 12-year period from Internationalist (1998) right up until the band’s swansong Golden Rule in 2009. As singer Bernard Fanning explains, many of these tracks were initially filed away for a proper release, but for whatever reason they never ended up seeing the light of day.
“Some of the songs were always earmarked for a release at some stage, and they were purposely not used as b-sides as we thought they were too good,” he explains. “I feel like this is how we ended up looking through our old material, where we discovered other unreleased gems.”
Guitarist Darren Middleton was just as surprised by what he heard. “We got to this place where we pulled the tracks apart and we were like, ‘This is better than just throwaway stuff.’ We were pumped about it, and a little surprised to be honest.”.
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Another surprising thing about Unreleased is how fully realised these arrangements are and how well they all hold together as a collection. With its gritty riffage and powerful group backing vocals, opening track ‘Day By Day’ could have easily made its way onto Vulture Street, while ‘Daybreak’ would’ve surely seen the light of day as a single had it not been for its timing. It was the very last song penned by the band before they embarked on their Sunsets farewell tour in 2010.
“The mix of ‘Day By Day’ and ‘Daybreak’ – they’re two of the best sounding songs we’ve recorded,” Bernard explains, “It sounds like a studio record.”
Nick DiDia’s role in plucking these songs from the fire cannot be underestimated. The American-born producer – who collaborated with the band on Internationalist, Odyssey Number Five, Vulture Street and Golden Rule – adopted Unreleased as his pet project, tinkering with it in the studio until it met the band’s high bar. The band’s WhatsApp was as active as its ever been in this period, but aside from a small change, the collection remained pretty much as Nick had sequenced it.
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“There was actually a spirit of cooperation among the five of us that hadn’t really been there since Odyssey Number Five,” explains Bernard. “It was pretty smooth sailing and no one had to fight red, tooth and claw for their idea. I don’t mean the song idea – but your idea of how it should be presented.”
Unreleased caps off an unexpectedly busy year for Powderfinger. The band had already been catching up on Zoom regularly in preparation for the Odyssey deluxe reissue when Covid plunged Australia into lockdown. They decided to mobilise, presenting a one-off gig live streamed from five different locations. Dubbed ‘One Night Lonely’ it was a moment that united the country in a time of crisis.
“It was a small idea that grew into something big,” says Darren. “But we’ve always underestimated ourselves. We never anticipated all the amazing things that have happened.”
The same can be said for Unreleased. There’s a vitality to this collection that stacks up against some of the out-and-out classics in Powderfinger’s back catalogue. That makes it feel less like a full stop and more like a continuation of the band’s journey, as best expressed by the striking cover art by Spanish photographer Chema Madoz.
”There’s a mysterious quality to his photos that ask you to look a little more closely,” says Bernard. “The cover art for Unreleased has that same quality and obviously the five joined, burning pencils could be a representation of us and that our work continues.”
For Powderfinger, that flame is still burning bright.
Fans can get the album here.
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‘Unreleased’ by Powderfinger – Available Now:
Listen Now
Track list:
1. Day By Day
2. Daybreak
3. What Are You Waiting For
4. Diamond Ring
5. Say It So I Know
6. Lou Doimand
7. Don’t Wanna Be Your Problem
8. Rule Of Thumb
9. Happy
10. Wrecking Ball
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