Interview with Jane Tyrrell
Jane Tyrrell first gained public attention when she featured on The Herd’s classic album The Sun Never Sets in 2004. After touring with the group, they invited her to join their collective. Now a prominent member, she also boasts one of the most distinctive voices in Australia at the moment. Expect to hear a lot more of her rich and soulful voice in the future as she is set to commence recording her debut solo album on independent label Elefant Traks.
Q1. You’re currently touring with The Herd. Do you have a most memorable or favourite performance that you have done with them?
Jane: Two favorites come to mind.
The Cannot Buy My Soul tribute concert to Indigenous Iconic songwriter, poet vocalist and musician Kev Carmody at the Sydney State Theatre with fellow artist’s Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, The Drones, Clare Bowditch, Dan Sultan, Last Kinnection and Dan Kelly….and many more. And performing with and touring in support of Brother Ali’s album Us throughout Germany.
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Q2. I understand you’re working on your debut solo album. What can listeners expect to hear when it’s complete?
Jane: I will commence writing my solo album in July of this year with a core team of two incredibly talented and well known musicians (I cannot divulge just yet)
Im utterly overwhelmed, excited and humbled by their talent and contribution. I dont know what to expect I believe music has it’s own path (Im just an excitable vessel) I can say that it wont be a hip hop album. A bold hybrid I expect given the sum of all it’s parts.
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Q3. There seems to be a sense of family at Elefant Traks with the collaborative nature of the musical projects. Is this the case or am I just imagining it?
Jane: Absolutely correct, the unique clique you sense from the Elefant Traks family is very special indeed. It stems from a deep respect for each other as individuals and our talents. Its like a giant Rubik’s cube, we are all connected through our love for art and for each others plight, inevitably what ever way you shuffle the family a different collaboration is possible and not like anything prior.
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Q4. Politics is inseparable from much of The Herd’s music. Do you think this turns off some listeners and if so, does that matter to you?
Jane: Inevitably discussing any personal opinion be politics or simply an individual’s point of view through art is going to ruffle a few feathers. Imagine how bland life would be if we all agreed on everything. To me successful art is evocative art, art that evokes a feeling from the viewer or listener. I believe you can enjoy music on many levels whether you choose to examine the lyrical content of just enjoy the sonic landscape. We don’t make music to please a wide audience we make music because we are compelled to express ourselves in a passionate way. If we alienate a portion of the audience we are not bothered.
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Q5. Who are 5 artists you are listening to at the moment?
Jane: Im listening to a lot of Lykke Li (kind of obsessed), Santogold, Frank Ocean, Bill Callahan, Feist.
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A big thank you to Jane for the interview. You can check out her Facebook page for updates and more info about tours, music and everything between. The featured track is a duet with Jane taken from Horrorshow’s 2009 album Inside Story which is available for purchase through Elefant Traks.
Urthboy & Jane Tyrrell - Still Keep Diggin’
Urthboy and Jane Tyrrell from The Herd came together in 2010 to generously release this song as a free download for fans.
Jane’s singing is always a pleasure to hear. Her soulful voice is the perfect accompaniment to Urthboy’s unique raspy rapping.
You can still download the song for free from Elefant Traks’ Soundcloud page. I’ve copied the link below.
Download - Still Keep Diggin’
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Crazy Thinker
TZU |
TZU - Crazy Thinker
Crazy Thinker sounds like the lovechild of R2D2 and Prince - or somewhere on that continuum.
The highly polished production is unquestionably slick and it accompanies dreamy echoing synthesizers and equally smooth singing from Countbounce.
And who is Countbounce, you may ask? He’s one quarter of TZU alongside Joelistics, Pasobionic and Yeroc.
The outfit were a force to be reckoned with when Australia’s hip hop scene began burgeoning in the early 00’s. They released three highly acclaimed and distinctive albums with Crazy Thinker appearing as the closing track from their final effort Computer Love in 2008.
Their hallmark was their willingness to experiment and stray from ‘traditional’ music making methods from other hip hop acts. For example, the group would regularly incorporate live instrumentation into their music and would often learn to play a new instrument for the sake of artistic progression.
TZU’s future is unknown with various members pursuing their involvement in other groups, such as Paso in Curse ov Dialect. Coutbounce produces several songs for other Australian artists such as Urthboy, while Joelistics has pursued a solo career on Urthboy’s independent label Elefant Traks, alongside a roster of other major Australian hip hop acts.
Fingers crossed the group’s hiatus won’t continue for much longer. [April 2012] The group have just announced they are working on a new album named The Beginning of The End. More info here
Enjoy.
Hermitude - HyperParadise
Welcome to HyperParadise.
Hermitude come together once more to leak the title track from their upcoming album on Sydney based label Elefant Traks.
Judging by this track and the first single, El Gusto and Luke Dubs are continuing with their sample and synth-heavy approach to production while incorporating a range of exotic instruments to create a more upbeat brand of dance-friendly music not heard on their previous 3 albums.
It’s exciting times as fans will not have to wait much longer to hear what else Hermitude have in store on HyperParadise. The album will be out on Feburary 3rd.
Horrorshow ft. Jane Tyrell - Cigarettes Will Kill You
Ahh, this is a beautiful cover of Ben Lee’s original version. The Sydney duo teamed up with labelmate Jane Tyrell to serve up this stunning rendition. I think its hard not to be drawn into the sweetness of Jane’s voice, or be left unmoved by Solo’s singing. They are just as amazing live. I’d gladly see Horrorshow or Jane perform another 2 times in a heartbeat. Just listen to those harmonies! Anyway, if you enjoy this as much as me, their label Elefant Traks have made this track available for free download here. So do your ears a favour and click the link. I’ll let people decide which version they prefer…
Hermitude - Speak of The Devil
I didn’t expect to be back talking about Hermitude so soon, but that was until I discovered they’d released a brand new song! It’s upbeat and more dance than I’d expected but straight killer from start to finish. They’re touring Australia from Nov-December to promote the single and Elefant Traks have announced that Hermitude will be releasing a new album in Feb 2012. Enjoy
