Jebediah capture the sound of summer with their new album.
Kevin Mitchell and Chris Daymond look pretty happy with themselves. In the darkened Sony Music boardroom, Jebediah’s guitarists are previewing the video for their new single, “Fall Down”. Who ever knew that the Perth rockers (completed by drummer Brett Mitchell and bassist Vanessa Thornton), could perform Scottish dancing so eloquently, or that they’d look so good in kilts? “We didn’t need sporrans”, points out Daymond when asked about the missing fashion accessory. “Our guitars kept the [kilts] down anyway…”
Four years after the release of debut album Slightly Odway and two from its follow-up, Of Someday Shambles, Jebediah late 2001 are a well-rested bunch now keen to get the new material out to fans. Recorded in June/July this year with producer Magoo at Mangrove Studios on the NSW Central Coast (owned by INXS bassist Gary Garry Beers), the new songs maintain Jebediah’s energy and add a coherence and - dare we say it - a maturity to their sound.
Jebediah have not been idle since their last album project wound down. They have their own record label, Red Line, which recently signed punk act Blue Line Medic.
The as-yet-untitled album is scheduled for release in March, on the back of a summer full of touring, beginning in November. “I think it combines the best elements of our first two albums,” says Mitchell of the new record. “There’s this energy to it and some really strong songs. It’s definitely our most varied album and we can’t wait for people to hear it.”
As well as the very high-octane energy of “Fall Down”, tracks such as “Gangster”, “If You Want It” will make sure that fans of the group will still be jumping around, while the cuts “October” and “Country Holiday Song” are the excellent “Nothing Lasts Forever” sees the group stretch their songwriting and arranging wings. Mitchell and Daymond agree that it’s a more focussed album third time out.
The group’s decision to work with Magoo (best known for his production stamps on albums by Regurgitator and Midnight Oil) was based on a need for jokes - the last album was produced by an American. “It’s everything from having the same sense of humour to just relating on a day to day basis,” says Daymond. Magoo, the pair say, wanted to make a “straight-up record” and not fuss around too much. “It was just what we wanted too,” Mitchell nods.
Juice (December 2001), article by Samantha Clode.