Photo Credit: Lisa Businovski
Liberation Records are today proud to announce the long-awaited third solo album from formidable Australian rock icon Adalita, Inland, set for release December 2. A celebration of an inward journey, the record bristles with raw emotion, cerebral lyrics and her trademark kick-in-the-guts guitar. Adalita today shares the first cut from the record, ‘Dazzling’, along with a sublimely stark music video produced by Adalita with filmmaker/director Adam Harding.
Of the record and the process of its creation, Adalita says: “It’s been a really intense and enlightening few years of exploration into these universal themes of obsessive love, the inner void and reclaiming of the self.” Today sharing ‘Dazzling’, the first glorious single from the record, Adalita is finally letting fans in on her creative journey over the near decade since her last solo release.
“Dazzling was a surprise to me when I wrote it. It immediately was a little different to anything I’d come up with before and was one of the songs that took the longest to record. It’s been a constant companion for the last 9 years.”
WATCH: ‘Dazzling’ Official Music Video
Adalita is an undeniable Australian rock icon. She has cemented her well-earned place in the music industry as a highly respected solo artist, since first exploding into the local consciousness back in 1991 as a founding member and principal songwriter of multi-ARIA Award nominated band Magic Dirt. Adalita’s self-titled debut album launched her solo career in 2011, to rave reviews and packed houses on her subsequent national tour. That year was a big one, with national support slots for Blondie and The Pretenders, a special performance for His Holiness The Dalai Lama, and accolades including Best Independent Album at the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Awards and a shortlisting for the Australian Music Prize. In 2013 her follow up album All Day Venus elevated her rapidly rising popularity, and secured a 2014 ARIA Award nomination for Best Female Artist as well as The Age/Music Victoria award for Best Female.
It’s been nine years since the release of the songwriter’s second solo album, All Day Venus, which cemented her place as a highly respected member of the Australian music industry. Grit and persistence saw her push through and deliver her finest accomplishment yet—a masterly work that demands to be heard. It’s an epic achievement that at one stage during the long production process she feared might never eventuate.
“I knew when I was writing the songs that they were BIG songs. But it didn’t become apparent until I was well into the recording that it was going to be a mammoth task and there were moments when I thought about giving up. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved. I also feel an immense sense of relief that it’s finally finished.”
She has been working away at Inland all that time, in amongst a host of other creative pursuits, all of which Adalita applies equal enthusiasm and passion to, including a welcome reformation with her Magic Dirt bandmates in 2018 to the delight of their loyal fanbase, and an impressive slew of national touring in many guises, including recent Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan tribute shows, and a performance at the most remote festival in the world, the Big Red Bash. The COVID years haven’t slowed Adalita down either. Her web-based Sunday Sessions were a huge hit in 2021 with fans in lockdown.
Adalita explains the visual aesthetics that support the new album are as important to her as the music. A keen photographer, Adalita created the monochrome self-portraits for the album’s artwork. And she worked closely with friend and filmmaker Adam Harding to create a collection of stunning music videos. The pair traversed her home state of Victoria, employing the landscape as their canvas in locations like Charlton and Lake Tyrrell.
“As I’m listening to the music, I’m also dreaming up the accompanying visuals, which for me is a huge part of bringing the album to life. The shooting schedule was intense. We put our shoulder to the wheel every day for six weeks, we were totally in our element.”
Inland sits solidly as the next step in Adalita’s impressive body of work. Building on the guitar-driven pulse of her first two solo albums, you can hear echoes of her previous sound alongside bold new experiments in tempo and tone.
Where she goes next is guaranteed to be exhilarating. As well as plans for various other creative projects, Adalita says the album’s final track, ‘Abandoned Houses’ offers a hint of what’s to come musically. “This song feels like the start of a new direction. What that may be I am yet to find out myself, but perhaps something a little different.”
ADALITA TOUR DATES
Thu 1 Dec | The Vanguard | Sydney NSW | TICKETS
Fri 2 Dec | Brunswick Ballroom | Melbourne VIC | TICKETS
Adalita – Inland Out 2 December
Featuring new song ‘Dazzling’
Pre order HERE
1 Private Feeling
2 Equations
3 Dazzling
4 Savage Heart
5 Hit Me
6 Listened Hard
7 Tropic
8 Blue Smoke
9 Missed You
10 Abandoned Houses