It's been a long time coming for Selve's debut album 'Red Desert Dream', and it's been worth the wait.
The First Nations-led band's record traverses themes of longing for home, loneliness and love atop a rock-soul fusion in a blend reminiscent of The Black Keys meeting Pink Floyd.Adding to the lush, visceral experience, the album is accompanied by a visual film written and directed by Alethea Beetson (Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri).
"We've been working on the album for two and a half years, and the visual album for most of this year, so it's been a long time coming," frontman Loki Liddle (Jabirr Jabirr) shares.
"Sonically, it's definitely a bombastic sound, and an evolution from our previous work, which was more straightforward rock & roll. There's a lot of night-driving basslines and synths together with an explosive sound. It's also very narrative driven in the songwriting, all the songs are interconnected lyrically."
The visual album was created as part of Blak Social's pilot programme Blak Narrative Music Videos, designed to facilitate collaboration between First Nations musicians and filmmakers.
"Blak Social is a First Nations arts company working across music, film and theatre primarily, started by Alethea in 2020," Liddle explains.
"I worked with Alethea through Digi Youth Arts as a creative producer for four years, and then with Blak Social last year. It's delivered theatre projects, Alethea played 'Queen City' as part of BrisFest last year, and we're moving into the film realm with this visual album. We've also started to create Blak Social Records, which is starting as a distribution platform.
"I'm First Nations from Jabirr Jabirr, my mob's from up in Broome, and 'Red Desert Dream' is largely about the calling to return home to country in Broome. But being based on the east coast as I am, it's also about everything you encounter in between, and the yearning to get over there, and being in a middle place.
"With 'Red Desert Dream' having this cultural basis, it's really important to collaborate with other black fellas in how that story is told. Working with Alethea, someone I know very well and trust as the writer/ director, was a really awesome process, because she was able to be a good custodian of the music and give it a visual life beyond itself, to continue telling and to grow the story.
"There's a lot of First Nations musicians, but not as many First Nations musicians working with First Nations creatives and filmmakers for their music videos, so the idea was to create a pilot programme through which First Nations musicians could collaborate with First Nations creators to tell a visual story.
"With that in mind, the goal was to create a production that was First Nations led in all the positions of decision making and brought in First Nations creatives. So we had Sam Harrison doing production design, and we had a bunch of mob in development positions, learning from other folks we got into other roles, so there was a growth opportunity there within the actors.
"Alethea has a methodology of using the same actors, so some of the actors are actors from her play 'Queen City' and worked in Blak Friday. We had the deadly Auntie Roxanne McDonald, who is an absolute icon, we had Perry Mooney, Ethan Enoch, Tibian Wyles as well, and we had a young William Wooding playing a baby me as well.
"So we had a deadly cast, and that has definitely come from a connection and relationship to these actors through Blak Social's other work."
Always one to bring soaring energy to their live shows, Selve promise some unexpected turns from the live rendition of 'Red Desert Dream'.
"There's a song that's the centre song of the album called 'Missing Person'. It's probably our biggest song. It takes a sharp left turn. The whole start, it's a moody, broody rock song with really fast bass and it's very explosive.
"It's one of the funnest things to play, and then as you think it's ending, it transitions into an EDM moment. And we've just figured out how to do it live and everything we need to get it just right."
Liddle always had creative urges, and sees this artwork as a beautiful culmination of a lifelong dream. "I always wanted to make music, I've been writing and making songs from a very young age.
"It's always something that I wanted to do, and I've been a cinephile for a very long time, so to be able to have such an incredible visual album accompany this album is really phenomenal and beyond anything I could have expected for a debut album.
"So I'm extremely grateful for Alethea and the work that she's done with this, and extremely grateful for my whole band, because it is all the members of Selve who create the sound, they're all such phenomenal musicians. And on 'Red Desert Dream' we had Reece Bowden, Creation Saffigna, Michael Baldi, Liam Kirk and we had significant contributions to the album from our former member Harry Edwards as well."
Liddle would love to see live music expand into regional areas, and be accessible for all Australians. "I think rural performances are really important, and having support so that bands can get out too.
"Especially First Nations bands and acts getting out to communities is really important both as a connective and holistic experience for the musicians and for the communities getting to engage with that, and especially for young people to be able to be exposed to different role models.
"It's a time where there's different touring methodologies that are coming to life, especially within First Nations music. It's the community radio stations and it's mob that will always have your back. The music industry is such a fluctuating paradigm of flavour of the week, but it's mob that will always have your back. So for First Nations musicians going to both cities and remote places, focusing on connecting with mob and music is so important."
'Red Desert Dream' is available. Selve play Mo’s Desert Clubhouse (Gold Coast) 6 October and The Tivoli (Brisbane) 12 October.
