Sal Kimber is busy mixing her new record Southern Lights with renowned producer Shane O’Mara as we begin to chat about her upcoming appearance (with The Rollin’ Wheel) at the Bendigo Blues and Roots festival to be held over the first weekend in November.
“We are right in the middle of mixing the record and it’s kind of hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel at the moment,” she says.
“We released the latest single ‘Stumble in the Dark’ in May and are looking forward to releasing the new album in early 2016. There is quite a different sound to this album that I think you will be able to hear when you listen to it. It’s very exciting at the moment, that’s for sure!”
Recording in a mud brick shack out the back of O’Mara’s house in Yarraville sounds like the ideal recording location to make an album and, as Kimber reveals, it is quite a relaxing process which has allowed the recording to sound a lot more natural and vibrant in the finished product.
“We actually funnily enough, tracked the drums in the living room of Shane’s place, the rest we did in the studio. However, it is an awesome environment to work in with lots of drinking of cups of tea and laughing,” Kimber laughs.
Talking about the lyrical themes that surround this new set of songs, it is the notion of not realising there is an underlying subject to the tracks that somewhat surprises Kimber.
“It’s funny how albums sometimes become really objective and you seem to have a total theme you never had realised until someone pointed it out,” she says.
“On this album, it seems to be all about light and fire and the last album seemed to be about trains and the notion of going on a voyage.”
The latest single ‘Stumble in the Dark’ is a blissful and beautiful four-minute effort and shows that the rest of the album is going to be stellar on the back of such a sweepingly astounding song. Beautiful melodies and the mix of piano and reverb-y electric guitar make this an easy song to listen to – despite the dark nature of the words. The new film clip that was just released is sensational as well. Recorded at a friend’s bush shack near Bells Beach, the imagery of the night sky with the stars shining is very picturesque and worth checking out.
Talking about their show at Bendigo in November, Kimber assures me that the band is set to play some new songs from the upcoming third album. Returning to the Capital Theatre on the opening night (Friday November 6) Kimber is excited to get back and jump on stage as the last time was supporting Kasey Chambers a few years ago.
“When I play with my band, it’s great to have five musicians on stage and be able to create a huge soundscape as opposed to when I do solo or duo shows. We are rehearsing for Bendigo right now and it feels pretty fresh. I love playing at the Capital, it has such a great vibe and having the opportunity to present the new songs in that open space will be awesome,” she says.
The new album which is somewhat influenced by Florence and the Machine and their signature drum sound, will be an interesting listen, so head along to Bendigo Blues and Roots to hear the tunes first!
Written by Tex Miller
When & Where: Bendigo Blues & Roots Music Festival, Bendigo – November 5-8