All India Radio‘s Martin Kennedy is the musical genius behind the magnificent Kilbey/Kennedy album ‘Jupiter 13’ reviewed by me last month. Already a strong contender for album of the year from me. While responsible for the shimmering instrumentation behind Steve Kilbey’s evocative vocals in this release, Kennedy’s main day job is in All India Radio – mostly a solo effort but augmented by band members in the past – and the band has just released a new evocative video for the single ‘Deep Blue’, featuring the vocals of Australian singer Sasquin . To add to the joy, All India Radio has just announced news of a new album ‘Afterworld’ for release on 30 April 2021.
‘Deep Blue’ is a shimmering, floating, dreamy delight, exuding the same celestial aura detected in ‘Jupiter 13’. There is no doubt that Kennedy has an acute sense for evocative music – layered, nuanced and sparkling – and a mastery of instruments. Crystalline guitars provide a razor sharp edge over cotton wool synths and strings while Sasquin’s vocals float in a mesmerising reverie across the top.
Kennedy says of the track:
Deep Blue was inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks The Return which I loved so much I’ve been writing songs that might fit into Lynch’s weird and wonderful universe ever since. Throw in some Chromatics and Mazzy Star and you have Deep Blue. Singing with ethereal dreaminess is fellow Tasmanian singer Sasquin (aka Anna Waugh).
The accompanying video captures the aquatic viscosity of the track. Kennedy says:
Deep Blue is created by award winning Queensland animator Helena Papageorgiou, created in the spirit of animation greats Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) and René Laloux (La Planète sauvage, Gandahar).
The result is nothing short of magnificent – a perfect vision for the surreal, slightly disembodied nature of the dream pop song:
You can get the track in an EP format with remixes here, along with merchandise incorporating the stunning visuals. All India Radio will be releasing the new album on 30 April 2021 and you can pre-order it through the link below:
