Eskimo Joe have released the first taste of their sixth studio album which shows the Freo trio moving in an interesting direction towards shades of electronic music for their new crowdfunded release. Have Eskimo Joe become EDM Joe?
The chart-topping group first asked fans to pledge money towards their new album, the follow-up to 2011’s Ghosts Of The Past, last November before managing to smash their initial target and raise over $60,000 through their Pozible campaign, an Aussie crowdfunding record (before Melbourne prog outfit Twelve Foot Ninja broke it).
Eskimo Joe have now revealed just how they’ve put that $60K to use in a teaser for the new record’s opening track ‘Running Out Of Needs’ in a video clip released online yesterday, as TheMusic points out.
The track starts with some acoustic strumming before a swathe of synths and keyboards take hold as singer Kav Temperley sings the titular phrase. The audio soundtracks footage of the band’s artist friend Andy Quilty painting portraits of Temperley and bandmates Stuart MacLeod and Joel Quartermain.
Eskimo Joe have previously talked about their new direction for their crowdfunded release. “This is our 6th studio album, but it really feels like a whole new experience,” the trio first noted when they announced their Pozible campaign last November. “We feel like this is a record where we can really do whatever we want, we’ve thrown all creative pressures and expectations out the window and we’re just enjoying playing music.”
“Involving all of our supporters like this brings a real responsibility to us to make a fucking awesome record and to also make them feel a real part of it. This feels like a new creative beginning for us,” they added. From the evidence of ‘Running Out Of Needs’, that certainly sounds to be the case.
The as-yet untitled album will be released in late September while the new single will be released sometime in August.
Eskimo Joe recently completed a national tour of intimate acoustic shows last month and will headline the Saturday night of the two-day Gorgeous Festival this November. Held in the winery region of McLaren Vale in South Australia, the WA threesome were announced for the 2013 bill alongside John Butler Trio, Lanie Lane, Blue King Brown, and more.
In related news, Kav Temperley was recently named as one of several live music ambassadors for the new National Live Music Office, a new initiative formed through the backing of $560,000 from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Federal Government. Temperley represents the interests of the Office in Western Australia alongside several high profile musicians nominated for their own states, such as Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner (for New South Wales) and Hilltop Hoods’ MC Suffa (for South Australia).
