Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.
In this Love Letter To A Record series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.
Dan Sultan – Beach Fossils, Somersault (2017)
Dearest Somersault.
The first time I knew you was December of 2019. I was in a hotel room late one night in Jakarta when, while flicking through TV channels, I came across one of your music videos. It was of people riding the NYC subway and night skating through NYC streets. The song itself immediately captured my ear. It was ‘Down The Line’ by your exceedingly wonderful creators, Beach Fossils. A group I wasn’t familiar with at the time. (That isn’t saying much as I’m not the best punter at the best of times.) I then searched for that tune and it led me to you. I bought you without any hesitation. Not streamed, bought.
From the first listen in that 18th-floor hotel room, with the galaxy of the Jakarta skyline coming in through the window, I fell in love with every song as I heard them. I loved you while on a 5-hour train journey through the rice paddies of Java. I loved you while walking from Brick Lane to Hackney in London. And more recently, I loved you while driving through the desert on the Plenty Highway through Eastern Arrernte Country in Central Australia.
I love everything about you. From your swimming bass lines to your glistening harmonies. Lyrically, you’re tremendous also. Beautiful 12 string guitars and even a Pedal steel as your final breath. You’re reminiscent of one of my favourites, The Go Betweens, while still being very true to your New York origins with wafts of The Strokes and The Walkmen. Somersault, I love you. Thank you Beach Fossils.
Dx
–
Dan Sultan will be playing at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on Saturday 27th March for his first and only headline show in NSW for 2021. Grab tickets here. He recently released new song ‘Tarred And Feathered’. Listen here.
