A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who has performed with Fun Machine and Glitoris, Canberrian Bec Taylor's current project is the Lyrebirds – a country-pop outfit producing earthy tones and charming melodies.
After emerging in 2020 and releasing their debut album 'Adrift' August 2021, Bec and the Lyrebirds have just dropped 'Anchor', their first new music in two-plus years, and the first sample of the group's sophomore album – that is slated for release in 2024.A track Bec collaborated with songwriter-educator CJ Shaw (who assisted with lyrics for the forthcoming album), 'Anchor' also features the vocals of guitarist Sam McNair (who sang the chorus jokingly one time, which the rest of the band loved and yada yada it became a duet).
Twangy, Australiana country brimming with heart and lyrics that paint a quaint outlook depicting companionship and being grounded by another individual, 'Anchor' has a free-spirited, honest essence.
The dual vocals of Bec and Sam add another level of sonic loveliness, the harmonising voices providing the song's charisma that's heightened by the fusion of banjo and Hammond organ tones.
With the song released today, scenestr is thrilled to premiere the 'Anchor' music video, which follows the group as they roadtrip from Canberra to NSW's South Coast – which mirrors the group's adventures arranging the new album. Enjoy.
"The music video for 'Anchor' was filmed during a road trip from Canberra to the South Coast, specifically South Durras Beach," shares the group, who worked with filmmaker Tim Kent.
"We decided to do a road trip clip because we actually arranged the whole album on a road trip to the South Coast, so it was fitting for us to have a video that tied into it.
"A few months before we recorded our new album (at Golden Retriever Studios, Sydney, with producer Louis Mongomery), we went on a road trip to Jarvis Bay to arrange and compose the ten songs that became the album.
"When Tim (of Stackhat Productions) heard that the songs were partly composed on a road trip, they decided that it would be very fitting that the first single's clip would feature the band travelling to the South Coast NSW."
Once you've seen the clip, you'll find it hard not to start daydreaming about your own highway/ off-the-beaten-track adventures. You'll also be drawn in by the group's connectedness to each other. "'Anchor' is about feeling grounded by a person, even if you feel like you're in constant motion.
"Tim designed the clip to capture the connectedness of the members in the band moving from place to place.
"Tim really wanted to get the typical Canberran south coast road trip, which always includes grabbing a pie at the Braidwood Bakery and exclaiming out the window at the cherished 'Pooh's Corner', followed by a long-awaited swim in the ocean (at Cookie's Beach, South Durras) and a walk through a headland (South Durras Head).
"The musicians' performing shots were filmed on location at Googong Cascades, Queanbeyan, one unseasonably hot afternoon in October 2023. To get to the scenic boulders in the river, the band had to ferry their instruments across water breaks and jump between boulders."
The day's filming also brought into sharp focus the unrelenting dangers of Mother Nature in Australia.
"When we left Canberra in the morning, there were fire danger warning notifications coming in hot, with the combination of the unseasonably hot early October weather, the intense winds and September being the driest on record.
"We didn't think much of it, being too excited about filming the clip together. However, we couldn't ignore it when we arrived at South Durras Beach and saw an enormous plume of smoke on the North Durras Headland trailing for a few kilometres into the ocean.
"It was a sobering reminder of the black summer and what happened to the South Coast communities down there."
Filmmaker Tim Kent says of the shoot: "I thought the Lyrebirds were an incredibly sweet bunch of people, especially because they genuinely seem like they really like hanging out with each other.
"As typical musicians, they don't find being in front of a camera easy, but once I encouraged them to simply just hang out with each other as if they were on tour as a band, they loosened up."
Bec Taylor and the Lyrebirds play Live At The Polo (Canberra) on 18 November. They'll be joined by CJ Shaw and the Blow Ins as well as The Burley Griffin.
