Alice Springs-based singer, songwriter Colin Lille had a pretty good end to 2019 and a great start to 2020. Coming off an extensive tour with Diesel where he made many new fans, performing at the the Woodford Folk Festival, then traveling to New Orleans to play the Folk Alliance International, things were looking pretty sweet. Then as every artist in the world knows, a virus brought the global live music scene to sudden halt. Unless you play in the Belarusian football league, there’s no live entertainment going on anywhere in the world. Consequently, we’re all living an isolated existence at home. However it’s not all bad news. Colin Lillie has a new EP coming called Petrichor, which produced by Diesel and he’s just released a single from it called Broken.
Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips caught up with Colin via Skype to talk about his music and life in the isolation age. Watch it here!
Alice Spring’s Colin Lillie has had a whirlwind 2020, already playing Woodford, flying to the US for Folk Alliance festival and touring with Diesel, he’s gearing up for the release of his new folk injected EP Petrichor. Produced by tour mate Mark Lizotte, fans got the first taste with the release of “Hard Times” at the end of 2019. Colin Lillie now unveils “Broken” which finds the beauty in repairing yourself.
“Broken” is a result of a co-write with Pip Norman (counter bounce) and Mark Pearl (texture Like Sun) whilst on a visit to Melbourne and urges people to open themselves up and ask for help as Lillie explains, “The song shares the power of letting go and opening up to another. Sadly there is too many friends and family who suicide due to feeling unable to share their darkness’s. My fear is that at this time there are many folks locked away in they’re heads due to all the recent devastation and as a result struggling to find the strength to ask for help.”
“Just like the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where repairing broken pottery with powdered gold, silver, or platinum brings more value to something which may have been thrown away when we share our pain we begin to repair ourselves. I believe its ok to be broken because it means I’m not perfect and with that comes my own uniqueness that makes me who i am warts and all.” – Colin Lillie
Wanting to capture more of his folk side, Lillie had the perfect opportunity to go into the studio with Mark Lizotte of Diesel in Sydney in late 2019. The 4 track EP titled Petrichor strays from the full band formula to a stripped back sound flaunting his raw vocal talent alongside acoustic guitar and a few special flourishes.