Following a thrilling tour last year between the two icons of Australian indie music, Ed Kuepper and Jim White have today announced the release of an album entitled ‘After The Flood’ on 21 March through Remote Control Records, and unveiled the single ‘The Crying Dance’ as a taster. Kuepper has also announced an extensive solo tour across Australia – his first solo gigs in five years following a series of gigs with a full band and with The Saints.
The intention for the pairing was to play a few casual shows together in 2020, but the onset of Covid and a turbulent touring schedule saw them perform two sold out nights at the Sydney Opera House and fluke the only gig at Rising before the Melbourne festival was cancelled. From this chaos, a bond was forged that sent them into the studio. Kuepper says:
We took what Jim and I had been doing live and brought it into the studio. It was important that we captured the immediacy of what we’d been doing, that it wasn’t laboured over. Everything was laid down live.
The resulting album is ‘After the Flood’ which Kuepper referred to as The broadest representation of what we did, with the most variety.
First track off the album is ‘The Crying Game’ which was a Laughing Clowns track originally released in 1982 on the 7” EP ‘Sometimes, The Fire Dance’. The track has all the urgency of Kuepper’s distinctive yearning vocals with the added ominous thrash of White’s drumming, resulting in something filled with a freshness and a vibrancy that is positively thrilling:
You can download and stream the single here.
The songs on the new album gives a tracking shot of Keupper’s career to date. The earliest song reimagined here is The Saint’s ‘Swing For The Crime’, which originally appeared in 1978 on the Prehistoric Sounds album. Kuepper’s early 80’s band Laughing Clowns is represented and rewired with the songs ‘The Crying Dance’, ‘The Year Of The Bloated Goat’ and ‘Collapse Board’. His solo career is deeply mined for reworked hidden gems; ‘Demolition’ and ‘Miracles’ (both from 2007’s Jean Lee & The Yellow Dog) and ‘The Ruins’ (from 2015’s Lost Cities). ‘The 16 Days’ originally appeared on Kuepper’s second album under his own name, Rooms of the Magnificent in 1986.
You can pre-order the album here.
Kuepper says of the forhcoming tour:
We haven’t done this in years… time flies, surprisingly it’s been some years since I’ve done any solo shows, so lo and behold… that is what I’m going to do in April/May. I’ll be trying out some new songs, and deconstructing some audience favs and some older beloved tunes in a relatively loving and spontaneous way. Do join me dear friends
The details of Kuepper’s solo tour is as follows, with tickets available here:
Ed Kuepper. Solo. At Last! Tour
Friday 11 April: The Citadel, Murwillumbah
Saturday 12 April: The Citadel, Murwillumbah
Thursday 17 April: The Street, Canberra
Friday 18 April: Caravan Music Club, Archies Creek
Saturday 19 April: Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne
Thursday 24 April: Camelot, Sydney
Friday 25 April: Camelot, Sydney
Saturday 26 April: Milton Theatre, Milton
Friday 2 May: The Cube – Frankston Arts Centre, Frankston
Saturday 3 May: Burring Cultural Centre, Upwey
Sunday 4 May: Birregurra Mechanics Hall, Birregurra
Thursday 8 May: The Triffid, Brisbane
Thursday 15 May: Avoca Theatre, Avoca
Friday 16 May: Flow Bar, Old Bar
Saturday 17 May: Qirkz, Abermain
Feature Photograph: Jude Kuepper
