Australian hit machine Diesel has today announced the Sunset Suburbia project: a trilogy of EPs leading into an album in 2020. And to coincide with the release of new music, Diesel will hit the road once again this October. With his powerhouse band, Diesel will showcase songs from all three Sunset Suburbia EPs, plus hits and fan favourites spanning 30 years of music making.
Diesel says,
“Suburbia has always held a strange fascination for me. I remember designer cul-de-sacs strewn with shotgun shells in Chandler, Arizona; little vignettes of skateboarding around closed service stations on weekends in Perth; some guy in the hot tub in his backyard where I’m riding my bike over the rail overpass in Sydney. I love going into where people live — the sights, the smells, the little repetitive things that make their world. It’s kind of a bittersweet thing but it’s the stuff of life and it has a way of making songs.”
After more than 30 years of recording, Mark Lizotte (Diesel) has found a more direct route from inspiration to revelation.
“I’ve really enjoyed [recording the EPs] as it elongates the recording process, allowing for each EP to take on a uniqueness. I’ve always been a bit bummed when getting to the end of making a record, and this in a way delays gratification, making 3 ‘mini albums’ on the way to an LP. I’m also really excited at the prospect of releasing each one as limited edition signed and numbered 10” vinyl to compliment the tour.”
On Sunset Suburbia (Vol. I) (out 19 July), this union of spontaneity and experience yields four of the most instantly arresting songs of Diesel’s multi-platinum career: the kind of exhilarating FM radio hits that sealed his reputation as a 1990s pop-rock auteur with Hepfidelity, The Lobbyist and Solid State Rhyme.
“There’s a lot of lost innocence in these songs. ‘By The Scars’ is pretty much about one or two years in my teens when a lot of things happened… I lost my virginity, I had two guys with balaclavas point a shotgun at me at a gas station… It’s about the time you basically realise the world isn’t as safe as you thought.”
Vol. I of Sunset Suburbia follows last year’s top-20 retrospective, Diesel 30: a double CD which was led by the FM radio embrace of ‘Give Me Saturday Night’.
The second Sunset Suburbia EP will drop later this year, Vol. III is currently under construction, and an album, featuring even more new songs, is due in 2020. Be sure to catch the evolution of Diesel’s ever-expanding horizon as he and his band roll out Sunset Suburbia to a city, town or suburb near you.
Sunset Suburbia (Vol. I) EP
Out Fri 19 July through Bloodlines
Pre-order available here
Sunset Suburbia (Vol. I) tracklist:
By The Scars
I’m With A Girl
Coming From You
Wake Up With An Angel
TOUR DATES
Thursday 10 October
20 Years At The Brass Monkey
Brass Monkey | Cronulla, NSW
Tickets on sale Monday 2nd September
* Solo show
Friday 11 October
Central Hotel | Shellharbour, NSW
centralhotelshellharbour.com.au
Saturday 12 October
Manly Leagues Club | Manly, NSW
oztix.com.au
Friday 18 October
Entrance Leagues | Bateau Bay, NSW
oztix.com.au
Saturday 19 October
Wingham Akoostic Festival | Wingham Showground | Wingham, NSW
akoostik.com.au
Friday 25 October
Gateway Hotel | Geelong, VIC
oztix.com.au
Saturday 26 October
York On Lilydale | Lilydale, VIC
oztix.com.au
Friday 1 November
The Juniors | Kingsford, NSW
seatadvisor.com
Saturday 2 November
Hornsby RSL | Hornsby, NSW
hornsbyrsl.com.au
Saturday 9 November
Bridgetown Blues Festival | Bridgetown, WA
bluesatbridgetown.com.au
Sunday 10 November
96FM Kickstart Summer Concert w/ Jimmy Barnes
Ascot Racetrack | Perth, WA
ticketmaster.com.au
Friday 15 November
The Triffid | Brisbane, QLD
oztix.com.au
Saturday 16 November
Southport RSL | Gold Coast, QLD
seatadvisor.com
Friday 22 November
The Gov | Adelaide, SA
oztix.com.au
Saturday 23 November
Get Your Blues On | Renmark Riverfront | Renmark, SA
Friday 29 November
Lizottes | Newcastle, NSW
lizottes.com.au
Saturday 30 November
Lizottes | Newcastle, NSW
lizottes.com.au
Friday 6 December
The Basement | Canberra, ACT
oztix.com.au
Saturday 7 December
Paddington RSL | Paddington, NSW
oztix.com.au
Friday 13 December
Lizottes | Newcastle, NSW
lizottes.com.au
Saturday 14 December
Lizottes | Newcastle, NSW
lizottes.com.au
