South African singer-songwriter Jeremy Loops has announced his new album, 'Critical As Water', will be released 16 March; he'll also tour Australia in May.
The theme of water runs deep throughout the album, which is the follow-up to his debut that won MTV Africa's Alternative Album of the Year and iTunes South Africa's Album of the Year.
Jeremy will return to Australia for the first time since his sold-out 2016 tour with shows in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in May.
'Critical As Water' was produced by Will Hicks (Ed Sheeran, Lily Allen, Bastille), with additional production contributions by Jake Gosling (James Bay, The Libertines, Shawn Mendes). Jeremy explains how the restorative power of water fuelled the album.
"I grew frustrated trying to force the music because I knew the album was due, but one night after an incredible surf, I got home, picked up my guitar, and wrote 'Waves'," Jeremy says.
"Coincidence or not, I became deliberate about scheduling time in the ocean as a means to writing the album and the songs just kept coming."
More urgent still is the real water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa, Jeremy’s home town. On course to be the first major city in the world to run out of water, taps to homes will be turned off on 22 April 2018.
So when these themes come up on songs like 'Flash Floods' and a hauntingly beautiful ballad called 'Vultures', a more terrifying backdrop to the album's release cannot be conceived. "It isn't all doom and gloom," Jeremy says.
"If anything, this is the most beautiful piece of music I've ever made and it's warm and lush. But the joyful highs are tempered by the real urgency of the problems the world is facing.
"Times are always changing. We all have the innate ability to flow like water to adapt to it. I like that about life, and I especially like how that comes across on this album. It feels wonderfully rounded."
Jeremy Loops Tour Dates
Tue 22 May - Capitol (Perth)Wed 23 May - Fowler's Live (Adelaide)
Thu 24 May - Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
Sat 26 May - The Zoo (Brisbane)
Sun 27 May - Factory Theatre (Sydney)
