Gurrumul (Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu) is set to release his third studio record, ‘The Gospel Album’, in late July, taking it on the road to major cities nationwide.
Produced by long-term collaborator Michael Hohnen (Skinny Fish Music), the album re-imagines traditional gospel songs, from the perspective of Gurrumul’s Gumatj clan of the Yolngu; from Elcho Island in northeast Arnhem Land. Having worked together for 15 years, Michael acts as Gurrumul’s intermediary. “From a non-Aboriginal person's perspective, I tell a little about the story of him and where's he's come from, and the journey that we've ended up on.”
As a young Yolngu boy, who was born blind, Gurrumul was involved in music of all persuasions; whether it was the songs of his people, in his language, or the songs he heard in the Methodist church. “I would never say he was a Christian church follower; it was more that he loved music so much. He went along [to church services] with his aunties and uncles. He was a part of the junior choir and senior choir in the ‘70s. He just loved any sort of musical engagement.”
As the video for the first single ‘Jesu’ attests, they made this album to bridge gaps between different beliefs, through the unity of music. “A lot of people in Australia grew up either being dragged along to church, or wanting to go to church – whether it was Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, or even at school… just people getting together once a week and singing hymns and songs. These songs are presented in that environment.”
Each show on the tour promises to be unique and intimate, with Gurrumul and his five-piece band inviting local choirs to join them onstage. “What we're trying to do is work on something that's a bit more community-minded … whenever we play in front of an audience, people kind of go silent and think that Gurrumul is this otherworldly being. He is a very special person, but he's also quite a normal, friendly person who likes to engage with everyone. Part of inviting community choirs to come on stage and sing along, to engage with him, is to hopefully make it less formal.”
Michael hopes this level of engagement with Gurrumul’s Yolngu dialect will bring his culture to greater Australia. “His family has this dream of their language being much more accessible… non-indigenous people singing these languages and engaging on any sort of level possible. They see this as helping to bring greater Australia, and other countries as well, into an understanding of how the Yolngu have a complete, beautiful language and how they operate.”
Having toured with Gurrumul to many places abroad, most recently the United States, Michael believes his music is able to transcend cultural differences. “When we put out the first album [in 2008] there was a bit of a perception in Australia around re-engagement. We started touring that album to the UK, to Europe, to China … it's received almost in the same way.
“People get really emotional listening to him sing. When there is a really strong sentiment, whether it's in English or another language, people can engage on this other level. I think we sold the same amount of records in Europe as we did here. That personally confirms, for me, that it wasn't just this Rudd apology that got people interested in Gurrrumul. I think it's just a universal love of his sound and his voice.”
‘The Gospel Album’ is released 31 July.
Written by Leisa Howlett
Gurrumal Tour Dates
Wed 29 Jul – Enmore Theatre (Sydney)Sun 2 Aug – QPAC Concert Hall (Brisbane)
Wed 5 Aug – Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
Sat 8 Aug – Supersense Festival (Melbourne)
Mon 10 Aug – Canberra Theatre Centre
Wed 12 Aug – Perth Concert Hall
