Midnight Oil - Makarrata Project *

Got this email from last night (via Midnight Oil's mailing list):

In other big news the Oils have also confirmed rumours that they hope to track some new music for possible release in 2020. If all goes to plan these would be their first recordings since 2001. At this stage it is not known whether a new song or two will be previewed at some point during their tour, but the band currently plans to head straight into the studio when they come off the road.

I couldn't be more excited. One of my favorite bands. I saw them on their recent reunion tour, and they were still amazing. Hope the magic carries over into the new album.

 

Me too!! Saw the Oils in Vancouver on the Great Circle Tour. Awesome show!! They played and sang as if their lives depended on it!
Glad they'll be hitting the studio right after their tour, when their chops are strongest. I'll bet they have a whole pile of great ideas for songs they've been saving up for just this occasion...

 

I'm hoping that they come out with an album that mirrors the paranoia of our times ala 10-1, or full of piss and vinegar like Head Injuries. Basically I want them to rock and rock hard!

 

Absolutely! I thought Peter Garrett's solo album from a couple of years ago was pretty good, but it lacked energy and did not rock hard enough. I hope they're able to take the energy from their latest tour and put it on their new album.

I'm just really happy their going to put out another album though, no matter what. A few years ago it looked like we'd seen the last of them.

 

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

 

Yeah but no wishy washy stuff. Blister my ears! I don't want them to go meekly. As was once said "it's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees"

 

I have a somewhat different view. Absolutely, nobody rocks the way that the Oils rock. What a glorious racket that is!!! And I also absolutely love their acoustic side - songs like "Bushfire", "One Country", "Antarctica", "Luritja Way", "Sleep", etc. For me, these kinds of songs really add important additional depth and contrast to their overall sound. I imagine a whole CD of their 'softer' side wouldn't work for me at all, but neither would an album of unaltering, blaring loudness. For me, I gotta have both from the Oils!

 

Ditto. My fave album of theirs is Earth And Sun And Moon. For me they hit the right mix there.

 

That’s great!

 

Yeah, I guess I don't even draw a distinction between their acoustic songs and the "rockers." Many of those acoustic songs really rock and most of them are really intense. To me one of the many things that makes Midnight Oil so great is the contrast and range within and across songs. So may of their songs start out quiet and build in intensity. I love how their music goes from soft to loud and back.

 

Kevin Shirley mixed the live album. If he produces the new album I’m tipping you’ll get your wish considering his nickname is “Caveman”!

 

Don't get me wrong. I have a great regard for their acoustic mid tempo numbers. One of my favourite Oils albums is Earth and Sun and Moon, which in some respects is the apogee of their mellowed out sound. It's just to my mind the temper of the times dictates that they should come out swinging. I'm not adverse to a few slower numbers on their new album but would rather the tone be more like "Short Memory" or "Maralinga" than say "Bullroarer". I guess I want them to fight for what's right and fight hard. So more rock and a little less roll. Do I think I'll get that? Precedent would dictate not.
Still a boy can wish, can't he? ;-)

 

Interesting. I did like the mix of their latest live album. In fact I'd go as far as to say that it was their best sounding live album.

 

They are older and in different places in their lives so perhaps it is too much to expect them to rock very hard. People change with age.

 

He also mixed the “Oils on the Reef” special. Shirley would have to be a big chance to get the gig, considering he has his own studio in Sydney.
We’re for Sydney | Daily Telegraph

 

Of course! But if Neil Young can still come out swinging once in a while the Oils can too. As I said I don't expect it but I'd love it if they did.

 

What did you think of the mix? I only heard Armistice Day recently and was impressed by its sound and their playing on it. Hirsty can still bang those drums!

 

It would be fantastic, but seems unlikely that they would/will make an album as significant as 10-1 but man I sure hope they do.
I enjoyed the recent bluray, they were much better than I expected them to be after all those years.

 

I thought Shirley did a great job. He cops a bit of grief on here for some of his work, but the reaction to his work with The Oils has been almost unanimously positive. I’m kinda surprised The Oils are going around again, considering the physicality of Hirst’s playing! I saw an interview with him, during which he mentioned he worked out for 12 months to prepare himself for the Oils tour!

 

Mark were you able to see them on their most recent North American tour (2017)?
I saw them twice in Los Angeles and they were really good. They may have slowed down a tad but still and all they really brought it. My only personal gripe was given they were playing to an American audience the set list favoured "Diesel and Dust" and "Blue Sky Mine" over the earlier stuff but that was understandable.

 

No, unfortunately not. I'm not sure they even came anywhere near me. Arkansas is like Perth Western Australia, it seems to be the last place anyone wants to go lol .... not sure why I always end up living somewhere like that

 

I saw them in Melbourne about 2 weeks before the gig featured on the Blu-ray and they were incredible; miles better than the Sydney gigs!
They ran out of legs a bit in the last week of the tour. Garrett and Hirst had the flu and Moginie tore his hamstring

 

Yea it was funny seeing him have to be immobilised.
Is this just one of those Melbourne vs Sydney things

 

If you gave me a choice between Perth/W.A. or Arkansas, well would that really even be a choice ;-)

 

No, I don’t think so. Garrett was definitely in far better voice on the first couple of Melbourne shows. The first of 3 Myer Music Bowl gigs was the best of the 4 shows I saw. The crowd reaction was the loudest I’ve ever experienced at a concert. It was the night before the Melbourne Cup, so the crowd was fairly lubricated!
Midnight Oil Setlist at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne