Certified musical comedian Tim Minchin, who is currently touring Australia till early April, offers a poignant and predictably sardonic reflection on his time spent living in Los Angeles on new track 'Leaving LA'.
The single brings together the pop and orchestral stylings Minchin is renowned for and was written at the tail end of his four-year residency in Los Angeles.The trip proved to be strenuous for Tim as it saw the demise of a $90 million Dreamworks animated project and the closure of his Broadway musical 'Groundhog Day: The Musical' after a six-month run. "‘Leaving LA’ was written in my final year living there,” Tim says.
"I try my best to steer clear of clichés, but the famous sign felt to me like an unexploited metaphor – it, like the town it teeters above, is iconic, unique, two-dimensional. . . and, if you’re expecting glamour, a bit disappointing.
"It is meant to reflect the bitterness I felt when the project I had been working on for four years got trashed. But it's also meant to feel a bit sad, and a bit funny, and a bit fond. It's bittersweet; like a break-up song written for somebody you're still a little in love with.
"The perceived glamour of Hollywood is laughable once you’ve lived inside it," continues Tim.
"Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant people there making wonderful art, but it's pretty damn ugly to look at, shamelessly materialistic (obviously), and full of desperate - and desperately unhappy - people. It's also full of tourists leering at obscene houses, and frantically searching for a good spot from which to take a photo of an old real estate sign."
'Leaving LA' pre-empts more new music from Tim in 2020 as he prepares to release a new album later this year.
'Leaving LA' is available now. Tim Minchin plays the sold-out Splendour In The Grass (Byron Bay) 25 July.
Tim Minchin 2020 Dates
13-14 Mar - Wrest Point (Hobart)16 Mar - Comedy Steps Up For Bushfire Relief @ Sydney Opera House
17-21 Mar - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
23-24 Mar - Civic Theatre (Newcastle)
26-28 Mar - Hamer Hall @ Arts Centre Melbourne
31 Mar-3 Apr - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)
