By Stevie Connor.
Australian indie-pop/alt-folk band The Northern Folk are releasing their new single Keep On Coming Over, the latest from their upcoming self-produced album. Showcasing their immense variety, Keep On Coming Over deviates sharply from the gentle interwoven pop of their radiant first cut ‘Jacarandas’, instead bringing to the fore a driving rock groove and a devastatingly catchy chorus. The skills of the full eleven-piece band are on display; a punchy rhythm section, deftly harmonized group vocals and soaring horn lines held in place by searing electric guitars.
Lyrically, the song explores themes of isolation brought on by mental illness, as well as the people in our life who refuse to let us succumb to it. Songwriter Paul Dyason describes the song: “Keep On Coming Over was written in a particularly turbulent period. It captures moments in a fledgling love where the facade falls away and you hope that what is left is enough. It is a plea for persistence and patience, a snapshot of the hope that accompanies an honest revelation and ultimately an ode to those who feel like their baggage is too much for others to handle.”
Engineered and mixed by Renn Picard of The Northern Folk at his home studio, Keep On Coming Over is accompanied by a breathless music video, produced by singer Georgie Currie, and directed and filmed by long-time collaborator Mark Day of Another Life Productions.
Hailing from Albury, NSW and based in Melbourne, The Northern Folk are a unique collective of eleven songsmiths and instrumentalists, wielding a brand of tightly woven alt-folk magnified by massive arrangements and colourful indie-pop sensibilities. With two charismatic vocalists, they defy the odds to avoid overcrowding- in sound, if not on stage- creating songs that deftly move from poetic lyricism to horn-saturated eruptions.
With three records across ten years, The Northern Folk have grown from their regional origins (seven members having attended the same high school) to become mainstays of the Australian folk scene. The band has worked with producers such as Callum Barter (British India, Courtney Barnett) and Adam Rhodes (The Cat Empire, Paul Kelly), culminating with their 2019 album ‘Watermark’, which reached #10 on the AIR Independent Albums Chart.
Their live shows, with a “strength of performance second to none” (Beat Magazine), have led them to win St Kilda Festival’s New Music Stage Competition and play festivals such as Woodford Folk (back-to-back), The Hills Are Alive and many more; sell out Melbourne venues such as the Geddes Lane Ballroom and the Northcote Social Club; and support acts such as The East Pointers (CAN). Not content with constraining their talents there, five members also have solo projects, and two members founded and directed the By The Banks independent music festival in Albury for three years running.
Having spent COVID lockdowns writing a bigger and more focused array of songs than ever before, the band are now preparing to release their fourth album in 2023- a record which will follow the narrative arc of a relationship from beginning to end, recorded at the band’s home studio.
FOLOW THE NORTHERN FOLK