STACK #142 Aug 2016

NEWS MUSIC

EZRA FURMAN

O ur Michael (Dwyer, freelance writer) tried to scare me just before my interview with Bernard Fanning, insisting the musician was a "tiger" who would "rip [my] face off." If by ripping my face off he meant being the loveliest person alive, then yes, Fanning is 100 per cent a ferocious face-ripper. This issue I also spoke to Sarah Mary Chadwick (whose amazing release Roses Always Die Michael reviewed), Montaigne, Wild Beasts and more. Get in. Zo ë Radas (Music Editor) MAD FOR LIVE MUSIC The Kills in Melbourne last month. Photography: Chip Mooney.

F ollowing the critical success of his 2015 album Perpetual Motion People , Ezra Furman will this month release EP Big Fugitive Life . Its six tracks are bursting with a spirit that in one arm embraces '60s rock 'n' roll, swaggy syncopated sax and a Freddie Mercury- sized comprehension of rhythm and showmanship, and in the other cuddles an emotive, close-mic'd acoustica with tonky piano and vocals full of heartache. Furman has described the release as the close of a "beautiful, insane chapter" in his life: " Big Fugitive Life is a group of our favourite orphaned songs that have banded together to form a unit. They are focused on the theme of the mind unmoored – those of us who have been left to drift unsupervised through the modern world. The first three songs are our vision of rock and roll. A madness that overtakes your mind and body. It's wanting to go somewhere you've never been, knowing you're on your way. The second side is acoustic guitar as open wound, a troubled mind on display. Emotional in a different way, tender like a bruise. It includes The Refugee , my first song entirely concerned with my Jewish background and present, a song dedicated to my grandfather who fled the Nazis as well as to all of the refugees desperate for a home today. We dedicate this record to refugees of all kinds, all over the world. May all the wanderers find the homes they seek, and may those with power welcome them as fellow citizens of humanity.” Furman has further alluded to an upcoming full-length, which we really couldn't be more excited about: " Keep an ear out for our next phase," he says. "We've been dreaming big."

Dinosaur Jr - review on pg 22

MUSIC

Big Fugitive Life by Ezra Furman is out August 19 via Bella Union.

We’re constantly out and about at all the best shows Australia-wide – go to stack.net.au/livereviews to have a gander. Have you checked out our live reviews and gallery section online?

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