'Red Desert Dream' is the debut album from First Nations-led band Selve, that's accompanied by a visual album written and directed by Alethea Beetson (Kabi Kabi/ Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri).
Selve are an alternative rock band from South East Queensland who've been building momentum the last couple of years that has seen them play stages at Woodford Folk Festival, BIGSOUND, Brisbane Festival and BLAK DAY OUT.They have released three EPs since emerging in 2020; their most recent being the 2022 twin EPs: 'The Neon Parable Of The Pink Hotel Pt 1 & 2'.
This year, Selve have released a string of singles teasing 'Red Desert Dream' including 'Phonebooth', 'Deadman', 'Ghostwriter' and the album's title track.
"We are incredibly proud of this record, which we recorded independently at our Selve Studios with Simon Benesch over 2021 and 2022," posted the band.
"The fact that it has taken on a life beyond itself and been made into a mind-blowing visual album by the storytelling genius of Alethea Beetson is sometimes hard to believe, but is also a source of infinite gratitude for us. We can't wait for you to hear it and see it."
'Red Desert Dream' was fashioned into a visual album as part of Blak Social's pilot programme: Blak Narrative Music Videos - Volume One. Blak Social is an Indigenous arts company founded by Selve's Loki Liddle and Alethea.
The goal of BNMV was to connect First Nations creatives with Indigenous musicians to create visual content within a contemporary music framework and contribute to career development within the First Nations music and film sectors.
Ahead of the album's release (audio & visual) on 15 September, here Loki shares five moments from the recording process of 'Red Desert Dream'.
1: Writing 'Phonebooth'
'Phonebooth', which was recently released, was the first song written of the body of work that has become Selve's debut album 'Red Desert Dream'. Writing that song was a very special moment, and all of the other songs have grown out of the feeling and the vision of that one song.According to my iPhone voice memos, 'Phonebooth' was written on an acoustic guitar on the 1st of Feb 2020. A far cry from the electronic midnight heartbreak banger that has just been released into the world.
'Phonebooth' was a moment of genesis, a song that told a dream-like and non-linear story that was not so easy to grasp, but left a distinct feeling of longing and calling.
The feeling impressed a vision into my mind of an abandoned motel at midnight in the middle of a red desert. There was a lonely highway and a single phonebooth ringing out under empty stars. I imagined on the other side of the phone was my ancestors calling me back to Jabirr Jabirr country. The rest of 'Red Desert Dream' grew from this feeling and imagery.
2: Seeing the real life 'Phonebooth' light up for the first time
Cut forward three years and the full album has been recorded and I am on set working closely with Alethea Beetson through Blak Social's Blak Narrative Music Videos: Volume One project to create a six-part visual album to bring 'Red Desert Dream' to life in ways I could never have imagined.Alethea, who wrote and directed the visual album, which will be released 15 September, took on the lyrical content of the album and impression of the music and ran with it. Bringing the songs to life, doing justice to the story of the songs, then taking it even further into the incredible surreal Blak heist narrative that engaged First Nations creatives both on and off the screen.
As someone who is one of my closest friends and who I work with every day at Blak Social, Alethea was super excited to listen to my songs an infinite amount of times and immerse herself for months on end in what she eventually termed: the Red Desert Scream.
'Phonebooth' of course was one of Alethea's selected songs for the visual album, and beyond that the phonebooth itself became an integral thread of the whole story, which you can see for yourself. So, of course, we had our production designer Sam Harrison design for us a real-life phonebooth that had 'Red Desert Dream' in illuminated text where 'Telstra' might usually be. The phonebooth was also rigged up with L.E.D tubes that pulsed in different colours to the music.
I remember standing there on set next to Alethea watching the phonebooth light up and pulse for the first time as the music played. I got shivers up my spine and goosebumps down my arms. I thought back to that first moment writing the song, the feeling and vision, and couldn't believe it was coming to life in front of me.
3: Recording the album
'Red Desert Dream' was recorded independently at Selve Studios, which we built ourselves at our home in Tallebudgera. We recorded it over two immersive month-long stints in both 2021 and 2022. Our producer for 'Red Desert Dream' was Simon Benesch, our very talented friend from Paris who lived with us right above the studio for the duration of the recording periods.This was really an idyllic process of everyday immersion in creativity, recording, idea generation and music. Though we brought all the songs fully formed to the studio, each one took on its own life and had the opportunity to develop and grow because we were recording it ourselves at our own pace, in our own home and with people we loved.
Long days of recording and long nights of comping tracks. Every single person who was a member of Selve at that time put their heart and soul into this record (Reece Bowden, Micheal Baldi, Creation Saffigna, Liam Kirk and Harry Edwards). I think of it as one of the most special times of my life, and am so glad that we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to put 'Red Desert Dream' into the world.
4: Red Desert Dream figurine
Thanks to this visual album I, perhaps prematurely, have a toy and toy box made in my likeness. There are two dolls: the Red Desert Dream doll and the Desperate Dream doll. These represent two paths the protagonist has to choose between, which you can watch the film from 15 September to learn more about.There were many surreal moments on the set of 'Red Desert Dream' that felt a lot like ancestral intervention. From the Phonebooth itself to learning that the only red dirt we could find within range (and budget) to shoot a desert scene happened to be located in Surat, near Roma, where Alethea's family had grown up.
But a moment that was very special to me happened during the filming of a scene where one of the characters 'The Matriarch', played by the iconic Aunty Roxanne McDonald, comes into the room of a child version of me, played by the young star William Wooding, and gifts him the Red Desert Dream toy. On the boy's bookshelf we had some photos of my Nanna Sue, my Aunty, my Mother, my Great Aunty and Great Grandmother, giving acknowledgement to my Jabirr Jabirr matriarchal line.
In that moment watching Aunty Rox give little Will that toy I suddenly remembered how my Nanna Sue, who passed away when I was younger, used to hide action figures in her suitcase that I would have to rummage through whenever she came to visit from Perth when I was little. Suddenly I could feel her there, I almost cried and again, couldn't believe that it was happening in front of my eyes.
5: That it happened at all
I am incredibly grateful that I have had the chance to create a small universe for 'Red Desert Dream' through a concept album made with my best friends and a visual album made with another of my best friends.That along the way I have had the opportunity to collaborate with people that I love and admire (did I mention the film features artworks from Uncle Richard Bell, Dylan Mooney and Sam Harrison!?) and also connect and create alongside the incredible actors who starred in the film (shoutout to Aunty Rox, Perry Mooney, Tibian Wyles, Ethan Enoch, Will Carseldine and William Wooding) and everyone who helped bring it to life behind the scenes through the Blak Narrative Music Videos Volume One project.
Of course, one of the best things about 'Red Desert Dream' is getting to perform it live, so stay tuned for Selve shows near you and for the album and visual album's release on 15 September.
