Everyone has a story to tell, and Gold Coast bohemian folk-rocker Felicity Lawless is ready to tell them all.
Felicity’s second studio album, ‘Tails’, is an anthology of stories collected from her own life and those close to her, told with fiery passion and accompanied by world music-infused, driving-rock rhythms. “’Tails’ is basically a collection of stories of both my own and other people's,” she says. “It’s really focussing on the storytelling aspect.
“The last album was really introverted and this one is a lot more of telling stories for what they are… as I was writing other people’s stories I realised there were a lot of common themes, that we all have the same stories.”
Where her 2014 debut album, ‘Ouroboros’, introduced an extremely talented singer-songwriter with a penchant for blending traditional Spanish, Latin, flamenco and gypsy styles with contemporary-rock grooves, Felicity says ‘Tails’ embraces a broader range of musical influences. “I’m sort of known for Spanish gypsy music, but I mixed it up and didn’t limit myself by musical genres, so there’s a full palette of a whole lot of world music, rock, pop; a real mixed bag. Usually I try to stick to a theme musically but this time it’s very diverse.“The direction the album took in the end I was quite excited about and I’m really excited to be bringing it out to the general public and on a much bigger scale. [I’m] excited to share the new stories and I’ve been really honing my guitar skills as well, so it’s always fun to show off.”
The first single from the album is ‘Cowboy Cameraman’, which is about Felicity’s friend and director of the film clip, Damian Lang whose own story of life change is nothing short of inspirational. “Damian was serving in Afghanistan and he had a big wake-up, and I guess an epiphany while he was over there, and returned quite traumatised and realising that he wanted to create things that made more beauty in the world.
“He basically gave up that life to pursue his dreams as a cameraman, but he very much has that element of ‘I will succeed with what I’m doing',” Felicity says.
“He’s a very driven man, a very inspiring man and someone who if he finds himself in a place where he isn’t comfortable or where he realises ‘this isn’t what I believe in’, he’s just one of those people that will just go ‘right, I’m changing it’. In two years he has gone from just starting doing film stuff to working on feature films and TV series… he’s a caring and giving soul.”
Felicity is embarking on a tour to promote the release of ‘Tails’ starting with the Brisbane launch in April. Accompanied onstage by her band, Felicity says audiences can look forward to a big night of rousing rock riffs, sing-alongs and stories to tell. “The live shows are band shows, with a huge sound and crowd-shaking epicness [sic]. There are lots of guitars and lots of psychedelia mixed in with a lot of organic sounding Spanish stuff,” Felicity says.
“Then there are my solos which I’m doing quite a lot of around Brisbane in the next couple of months, and they’re a scaled-back version with lots of guitar, singing and stories, plus lots of showy Spanish stuff.”
'Tails' will be released 1 April. Felicity Lawless launches ‘Tails’ at The Motor Room 2 April.
