Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley drops new solo track, ‘Machines of Love and Grace’
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13.05.2022

Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley drops new solo track, ‘Machines of Love and Grace’

Photo credit: Jarrad Levy

'Machines Of Love And Grace' firmly harnesses a sharp spotlight on Temperley's passion and penchant for songwriting that first endeared him so heavily in the Aussie music scene.

Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley has delivered another slice of sublime solo material, releasing a deeply poetic, ethereal-yet-pounding new single ‘Machines Of Love And Grace’, lifted from his forthcoming solo album of the same name.

Following his 2018 solo effort All Your Devotion, Temperley’s distinctive soothing vocals and penchant for songwriting shine through on ‘Machines Of Love And Grace’ as he tackles themes of connectivity in the digital age amongst driving alt-rock flavours with moments of acoustic calm and lush, stripped-back beauty.

Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

With its glistening piano, ‘Machines Of Love And Grace’ steadily oscillates between fuzzy riffage and more introspective calm, much like its own brooding and ruminating subject matter, as he explains, “The song is about the complex and intimate relationships we have through our phones, seen through the lens of the last two-and-a-half years of the pandemic. Having devices in our hands has allowed us to have dinner with loved ones all over the world, all locked in our houses, and follow every moment of each other’s life; whether we want to or not, it’s often the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see before we go to sleep. With the touch of a button, anything and everything is available to us, good and bad.”

Arriving alongside the new single is an affecting music video, simultaneously capturing the track’s existential narrative and driving instrumentals alongside the formidable artist’s dynamic stylings.

Filmed and directed by Eskimo Joe visual collaborator Cooper Gordon, the video for Machines Of Love And Grace perfectly complements the bittersweet themes explored in the song, with Temperley intimately playing up the voyeuristic elements of social media and digital connection underpinning proceedings, elaborating, “Voyeurs to each other’s lives, I’m asking the question: do any of us feel like we exist unless we’re posting? And who are we when the camera lights turn off? We now live through these machines in the most intimate way, and we take them anywhere and everywhere we go! For the video, it was an idea of FaceTime without having Facetime,” Temperley says.

“The most amazing thing is that the actor and the actress reacting to each other, they never met each other, yet on camera, it’s like they’re having an intimate relationship. It’s absolutely fascinating and plays into the whole theme about the machines of love and grace.”

Founding the ARIA award-winning, four-times platinum band Eskimo Joe at just 19, Temperley turned winning a band competition back in the day into a career just shy of 25 years as the frontman, bass player and songwriter for what would go on to become one of Australia’s most beloved bands. The group’s breakout single ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ spent 62 weeks in the Top 50, with Temperley going on to write and record seven studio albums with Eskimo Joe.

You can catch Temperley live on stage later this year as he gears up to tour the nation with Eskimo Joe, taking to Brisbane and Hobart in September and then Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth in October. The band will perform at the Forum in Melbourne on Saturday, October 1. You can purchase tickets here.

‘Machines of Love and Grace’ is out now.