Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever announce debut album 'Hope Downs'
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have announced the release of Hope Downs – the highly-anticipated debut album from renowned Melbourne outfit. The record, an undeniably rich and sophisticated collection of passionate guitar pop, is out Friday 15 June in digital, CD & vinyl formats. To coincide with the album announcement, the band have revealed their next single ‘Talking Straight’ and its accompanying video which can be viewed above.
The news comes on the eve of the band’s huge international North American & European tour, which includes festival performances at Coachella, Shaky Knees, The Great Escape, Primavera, Lowlands, Pukklepop & more.
Fittingly recorded in a house in the middle of the northern NSW bush, new single ‘Talking Straight’ hits hard with its driving rhythm and melodic, interweaving guitars, while reflecting on the loneliness of being a small person in a big universe.
In singer/songwriter/guitarist Joe White’s own words "The concept came about when I heard someone talking about the possibility of us, humans, being alone in the universe, and how sad that would be. The idea in this song is that we might be lonely, but we could be lonely together."
'Talking Straight’, premiered via triple j, marks the second release of new music from the band for 2018. Previous single ‘Mainland’ saw the band receive support from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum and DIY Mag, as well as high rotation from triple j and community radio alike.
The debut album Hope Downs was largely written over the past year in the band's Melbourne rehearsal room, where their previous releases were also written and recorded. The band's core trio of songwriters — Fran Keaney, Joe White, and Tom Russo — hunkered down and wrote as the chaos of the world outside unavoidably seeped into the songwriting process. “We were feeling like we were in a moment where the sands were shifting and the world was getting a lot weirder. There was a general sense that things were coming apart at the seams and people around us were too”. Russo explains. “The songs on this album are like a collection of postcards about wider things that were going on through the lens of these small characters.”
The album title, taken from the name of a vast open cut mine in the middle of Australia, refers to the feeling of “standing at the edge of the void of the big unknown, and finding something to hold on to.”
Indeed, Hope Downs possesses a robust full-band sound that's all the more impressive considering the band's studio avoidance tendencies. Fans of Talk Tight and The French Press certainly won't be disappointed here, but might also be surprised at how the band’s sound has grown.
ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER
USA & CANADA
APRIL & MAY 2018
April 15 | Coachella Weekend 1 | SOLD OUT!
April 17 | The Echo | Los Angeles, LA
April 20 | Coachella Weekend 2 | SOLD OUT!
April 24 | Doug Fir Lounge | Portland, OR
April 25 | The Crocodile | Seattle, WA
April 27 | Kilby Court | Salt Lake City, UT
April 28 | Larimer Lounge | Denver, CO
April 30 | 7th Street Entry | Minneapolis, MN
May 2 | Schubas Tavern | Chicago, IL | SOLD OUT!
May 3 | The Basement | Nashville, TN
May 4 | Shaky Knees Festival | Atlanta, GA | + AFTERSHOW!
May 5 | Local 506 | Chapel Hill, NC
May 6 | DC9 | Washington, DC
May 8 | The Garrison | Toronto, ON
May 10 | Johnny Brenda’s | Philadelphia, PA
May 11 | Great Scott | Allston, MA
May 12 | Rough Trade | Brooklyn, NY | SOLD OUT!
May 12 | Rough Trade | Brooklyn, NY | NEW SHOW!
ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER
UK & EUROPE
MAY - AUGUST 2018
May 17 | The Great Escape | UK
May 18 | Rescue Rooms | Nottingham, UK
May 20 | CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts | Glasgow, UK
May 21 | Gorilla | Manchester, UK | SOLD OUT!
May 22 | Electric Ballroom | London, UK
May 24 | Point Ephemere | Paris, FRA
May 26 | London Calling | Amsterdam, NL
May 28 | Molotow | Hamburg, GER
May 29 | Lido | Berlin, GER
May 31 | AB Club | Brussels, BEL
3 June | Primavera | ESP
5 June | The Horn | St. Albans, UK
6 June | The Hare & Hounds | Birmingham, UK
7 June | Boileroom | Guildford, UK
8 June | Parque da Cidade | Primavera Porto | POR
11 June | Haldern Pop Festival | GER
16 Aug | Pstereo Festival | NOR
17 Aug | Lowlands Festival | NL
18 Aug | Pukklepop Festival | BEL
19 Aug | Green Man Festival | WAL