ROLLING BLACKOUTS
COASTAL FEVER
new album
‘SIDEWAYS TO NEW ITALY’
Out Today!
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Q –
MOJO –
Dork –
Upset –
Rough Trade’s Album of the Month
“Their first classic songs.” – Uncut, 9/10
“Rolling Blackouts C.F. continue to make a strong case as one of Australia’s most vital rock acts, if not the world’s.” – Paste, 8.6/10
“These are songs that, on first listen, sound like recognisably RBCF-esque tracks — you think you get it. Then, sure enough, the melodies worm their way deeper into your head, you notice little nuances, and the songs prove themselves to be more enduring and bulletproof than you could’ve previously imagined.” – Stereogum
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“Our new album Sideways to New Italy is out today. It feels strange releasing music with so much happening in the world right now, but we couldn’t be more proud and excited. This is a hopeful record, true to the people and places that shaped us. We hope you get something out of it too. There are too many people who helped us to list here. We can’t wait to play these songs live in the new world. Look after each other and play it loud.”
Love, Joe, Joe, Fran, Marcel, Tom.
Rolling Blackouts C.F.
Today Ivy League Records are thrilled to release Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s triumphant second album, Sideways to New Italy – a stunning return for the Melbourne five-piece. Featuring tracks ‘She’s There’, ‘Cars In Space’, ‘Falling Thunder’ & the anthemic, ‘Cameo’ – Sideways To New Italy shows Rolling Blackouts C.F. at the peak of their powers; a timeless record that’s universal yet threaded through with personal histories, born of dislocation but with a distinct geographic identity.
To coincide with the album release is the announcement of new single ‘Cameo’, which begins with open guitar strums and Fran Keaney’s lone voice, before building to a swirling roar – a stellar showcase of the band’s instrumental and lyrical prowess.
“This is a love song. It’s about reaching through time portals,” says Keaney. “The lyrics were pieced together over about a year like a little puzzle. I found the first pieces in Rushworth, and the last pieces in Darwin.”
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Sideways to New Italy is set to follow in the footsteps of the band’s internationally acclaimed debut album, Hope Downs (2018), with praise for STNI coming in from MOJO (4/5), Dork (4/5), Upset (5/5), Uncut (9/10), Rough Trade’s ‘Album of the Month’, The Music’s Album Of The Week + more to be announced.
The eponymous New Italy is a village near New South Wales’s Northern Rivers – the area Tussie is from. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pit-stop of a place with fewer than 200 residents, it was founded by Venetian immigrants in the late-1800s and now serves as something of a living monument to Italians’ contribution to Australia, with replica Roman statues dotted like souvenirs on the otherwise rural landscape. The parallel between these remnants of home and the band’s own attempts to maintain connections and create familiarity during their disorienting time on the road were not lost on Russo.
“These are the expressions of people trying to find home somewhere alien, in someone else’s land. Trying to create utopia in an imperfect world.”
In addition to the specific town, the songs on the record exist variably in Melbourne (‘Beautiful Steven’), Los Angeles (‘The Cool Change’), Darwin (‘Cameo’), the tiny town of Rushworth (‘Not Tonight’) and the driver’s seat of a car at a drive-in movie (‘Cars in Space’). Rolling Blackouts C.F are well-versed in a detailed and cinematic style of songwriting, where landscapes, interactions and memories materialise as characters and stories that reflect the tight, swirling guitars that emote alongside the trio’s voices.
A not-to-be-missed performance by Rolling Blackouts C.F. at the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (aka MCG), with special guest Stella Donnelly, will air tonight as part of the final episode of The State of Music. Tune in from 7.30pm AEST HERE.
The brilliant Sideways To New Italy is out now on digital, CD & Sub Pop’s limited edition Loser blue vinyl. A second vinyl pressing in black is also available to fans to pre-order.
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Sideways To New Italy
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Album out now through Ivy League Records
Available to buy/stream here
Sideways To New Italy
tracklisting:
1. The Second Of The First
2. Falling Thunder
3. She’s There
4. Beautiful Steven
5. The Only One
6. Cars In Space
7. Cameo
8. Not Tonight
9. Sunglasses At The Wedding
10. The Cool Change
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ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER
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AMNPLIFY – DB
My nickname is “The Amnplifier”. Why? Because around here my focus is on being a conduit for providing greater outcomes that people come here for. My day to day “work” is living in the moment, and I love helping others concentrate on finding their connection to themselves through their experiences.
Why start a music environment? The truth is I love music, I love writing, and I love life. I work with musicians every day, and I feel certain that I will be until they put me in the ground. I have been managing people in businesses of some sort for over thirty five years so along the way I have developed some “wisdom” from my regular and constant “observations”.
Amnplify your experience. That is what we want you to do here, and if you want to let me know why you do, or don’t, shoot me a message on Facebook.
Hope you enjoy yourself here and find something that hits you somewhere.