Sunshine Coast vocalist Angela Newcomb gives mystical poetry a musical makeover on 'Because Of Love', the debut album for her band The Dawn Light.
"Since I discovered it in my early 20s, reading poetry has always been such an important anchor of peace and beauty in my life," Angela explains."I read poetry every night before I go to bed pretty much and it helps me connect inward and really feel happy and good, basically."
On 'Because Of Love', Angela has coupled the verses of mystic poets Hafiz and Francis Brabazon with her musical interpretation of their words and the feelings they elicit.
In setting these profound verses to music, Angela worked carefully to retain the original intention of the poems as she shaped them into songs.
"Most of the poems are mostly word for word, though I have made a few little alterations here and there for the singability of things, and also arranged the poems so there is a verse-chorus type structure to make them into songs," she says.
"There's a different process for each one; some just fell out of the sky, and I sang it out and there it was. And other ones took a lot more massaging of phrasing to help being able to hear the meaning, so that I wasn't singing it in a way that muffled the meanings of the words."
Angela has brought a broad palette of genres to 'Because Of Love', giving new life to Hafiz' and Brabazon's beloved works on songs such as 'Thousand Stringed Instrument', 'Come To My Door', 'Freedom And Light', 'What Should We Do About That Moon' and more.
"I really try to match the feeling of the music with the feeling of the words for me, which of course is going to be different to what other people hear if they were to grab that same poem and write a song," Angela says.
"But, as best as I could, I've always tried to match the feeling of the meaning of the poem with the feeling of the genre of the song."
After working as a session vocalist, The Dawn Light is Angela's opportunity to showcase her original songwriting and is joined in the band by her husband and renowned bassist OJ Newcomb.
The Dawn Light also features Charles Wall (aka Bobby Alu) on drums, Brodie Graham on guitar, Gareth Mews on violin, Rohan Seekers on keys and Nick Garbett on trumpet, in what Angela can only describe as her dream line-up of talented musicians.
Angela and The Dawn Light will be playing a short run of shows in support of 'Because Of Love', bringing the album to Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane in June.
"We've been playing a few gigs – we played at Bushtime at Woodford, Caloundra Music Festival and we've just come back from National Folk Festival in Canberra, so the band's starting to sound really great," Angela says.
"Peter Hunt, who is one of the support acts for the tour and someone I have admired for a long time, is going to join us on trumpet in The Dawn Light set as well."
Just as the poems of Hafiz and Brabazon have been a source of joy and enlightenment in Angela's life, she hopes 'Because Of Love' gives listeners something to feel good about.
"I never really thought in terms of what was going to happen with it," she says.
"I really wanted to make the music and in the way that I felt honoured the poetry as best as I could with the resources that I have, and I feel quite happy with it.
"One of my main hopes for this album was to create something that might bring a smile to people's faces and lighten their days – bring a little joy."
'Because Of Love' is released 7 June.
The Dawn Light 2022 Tour Dates
Sun 12 Jun - Byron Theatre (Byron Bay)Fri 17 Jun - The Dust Temple (Gold Coast)
Sat 18 Jun - The Imperial Hotel (Sunshine Coast)
Sun 26 Jun - It’s Still A Secret (Brisbane)
