Yugambeh/Kombumerri (Gold Coast) six-piece led by proud Jabirr Jabirr man Loki Liddle today share their historic second album Breaking Into Heaven, the first full-length album by an Aboriginal artist ever recorded at Abbey Road.
The historic recording took place in Abbey Road’s legendary Studio 3, the same room where Pink Floyd crafted Dark Side of the Moon. Selve used the original Mellotron from ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, the piano from ‘A Day In the Life’, and over £200,000 worth of vintage microphones to capture their ambitious sonic vision.
Read all the latest features, columns and more here.
Tour dates
- 26 Sep – Brisbane, Princess Theatre
- 27 Sep – Gloucester, Gloucester Country Club,
- 2 Oct – Newcastle, The Lass O’Gowrie Hotel
- 4 Oct – Sydney, Vic On The Park
- 10 Oct – Brisbane, Felons Barrel Hall
- 7 Nov – Melbourne, Lulie Tavern
- 14 Nov – Gold Coast, Elsewhere
Plus festival appearances:
- 13-19 Oct – SXSW Sydney
- 28 Dec-1 Jan – Lost Paradise
The album represents a powerful reclamation of space, inspired by Nina Simone’s words: “The people who built their heaven on your land, are telling you that yours is in the sky.” For Liddle, recording at Abbey Road was about “breaking triumphantly into a constructed ‘heaven’ to platform a First Nations story.”
The album’s creation spanned a three-stage residency between Jabirr Jabirr Country in Broome, France, and London. Liddle spent time with community and Elders on Country, which “gave the record its soul – taking the embers of songs sparked on my Jabirr Jabirr Country and recording that at Abbey Road.”
‘Leading Man Lost’ features Fraser in a meta-narrative that subverts the cult of celebrity. Co-directed by Liddle and visual collaborator Joshua Tate, the clip sees Fraser’s character literally steal the spotlight from Liddle, disrupting the leading-man trope in a casino setting.
“This album doesn’t exist without the legacy of incredible First Nations artists who have come before me,” Liddle explains. “Breaking Into Heaven is about claiming what is ours, rejecting the false heavens and systems used to control us on our own lands. We come from the oldest continuing culture on Earth, and our stories more than deserve to be platformed in spaces such as Abbey Road.”
Breaking Into Heaven is out now. Grab your tickets here.
