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Earth and Sun and Moon – Midnight Oil (1993)
Introduction
Given that I spend a lot of time banging on about my love for Americana, my latest choice may come as a surprise. However, it’s a strange quirk of my tastes that three of my all-time top six artists are from Australia/New Zealand (Crowded House, INXS and Midnight Oil). There’s something about Australian music, developed outside of the UK-US mainstream, that gives it a different sound, so it’s about time we had an Australian artist on this thread.
The Politics
Before I talk about my choice, a bit of background and context is required. You may have heard of Midnight Oil, but you may not know their background. Whilst I’ll spend some time talking about their politics, let’s get one thing straight: they are an incredible band with a dynamic 17-foot, angry, politically motivated, bald-headed, crazy dancing lead singer in Peter Garrett. Their earlier albums fused hard rock with punk and new wave, driven largely by the twin guitars of Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey, but as they gigged their way through the Australian pub scene, it became clear that this band was different. The music was tough, catchy and melodic, but just as important the lyrics came with a barrel load of politics and righteous outrage, taking aim at governments and corporations alike.
In 1990, protesting the Exxon Valdez oil spill, they pulled up a flatbed track in front of the Exxon headquarters in New York and played an impromptu protest gig. They played at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympic games, the word “SORRY” featuring prominently on their outfits after Prime Minster, John Howard, had refused to embrace the symbolic reconciliation movement to apologise to Indigenous Australians for past wrongs.
In 2002, after 11 studio albums in 25 years, the band called it a day with Peter Garrett eventually winning a seat in the Labour government. After a long hiatus, during which they played occasional benefit concerts, they got back together in 2016 and embarked on a world tour. Midnight Oil recently announced that their final album,
Resist, will be released in February.
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Diesel and Dust
In 1986, Midnight Oil spent several months on the
Blackfella/Whitefella tour, playing to remote Aboriginal communities and gaining some first-hand experience of health issues and poor living standards. It received criticism from some journalists for being a one-off event, so the band decided to make a concept album and continue the fight to make the world aware of the struggles of indigenous people. They were rewarded with their biggest selling and best-known album, 1987’s
Diesel and Dust (if you haven’t heard the song “The Dead Heart” go and listen now – it’s incredible). It changed their lives and careers, putting them on the world stage – founding member Jim Moginie said in an interview that he thinks of his life in two halves – before the
Blackfella/Whitefella tour, and after it.
For me,
Diesel and Dust kicked off a superb three-album run by the band/ It was followed in 1990 by
Blue Sky Mining and in 1993 by
Earth and Sun and Moon.
Earth and Sun and Moon
This is my favourite Midnight Oil album – for this and the two albums before, the band slowed down their sound ever so slightly and Peter Garrett’s vocals were less strident and, in my opinion, all the better for it. The album has an organic sound and beautiful production by Englishman Nick Launay (also known for his work with The Jam, XTC, Peter Gabriel, PiL and Gang of Four amongst others). Launay, who had produced some of the band’s earlier efforts, explains that he likes to capture the sound of a band live and with this album, the band wanted to get back to playing as a group.
This album is special to me because I remember it being the last CD that I bought before leaving home and getting married – I remember recording some of the songs onto the mixtapes that I took with me and played on the honeymoon.
Looking back at the list I submitted to
@BlueHammer85 for the Top 100 albums thread, this was one of five that got cut just outside the Top 20, but listening back I was wrong; it’s easily top 15.
One of the key parts of this album for me is Bone Hillman’s bass – it grooves in all the right places and gives the album a superb bottom end. Another feature of Midnight Oil’s music is the backing vocals – drummer Rob Hirst and Bones Hillman again give Peter Garrett’s lead vocals the perfect backing in the choruses. The album features a ton of guitar work and despite the live recording, producer Nick Launay isn’t averse to putting in a bit of backward guitar here and there.
Some highlights:-
First track “Feeding Frenzy” lumbers into view like an eighteen-wheeler – Bone’s Hillman’s bass sounding like the countdown to something ominous whilst Jim Moginie puts the Hammond organ through its paces. Notice that Rob Hirst is just providing minimal percussion here until his drum roll calls in the guitars and then the song explodes into life.
“My Country” – a song about blind faith in your country that I believe was inspired by the Balkans conflict – is an exceptional sing-along rocker. It features a great bridge where everything changes and in similar fashion, “Renaissance Man” somehow manages to get Peter Garrett’s version of a rap in there. The title track is a 60s inspired lilt before the centrepiece – my favourite Midnight Oil song, “Truganini”.
“Truganini” drew some criticism as the time, but rather than being solely about Aboriginal rights, Rob Hirst explains that the song is more about Australia as a whole as it prepares to enter the 21st Century. “Blue collar work don’t get you nowhere; you just go round and round in debt” is one of the lyrics in a song that also tackles farmers battling the dry land and covers the issues of sovereignty and the Union Jack. Again, the bass drives the song but when the guitars cut across the verse it’s a truly epic sound. Listen out for those backward guitars floating in the mix and a superb chorus.
“Bushfire” starts with simple acoustic guitars and builds up to the full band sound nicely as it progresses with lots of guitar fuzz, squawk and wah-wah effects, and whilst “Outbreak of Love” is one of the relatively weaker tracks, it does feature a killer organ break and some exotic Middle-Eastern-flavoured guitar.
“In The Valley” is worth a mention because it’s about as personal as Midnight Oil ever got in their lyrics. It tells the true story of how Peter Garrett’s grandfather died on a WWII prisoner of war ship (The Montevideo) and how both his parents died relatively young. The acoustic guitar starts things off and is joined by a lovely violin.
Closing Thoughts
Whilst the politics are toned down slightly on
Earth and Sun and Moon, I don’t think that Midnight Oil have ever sounded better. Peter Garrett’s vocals are slower, more mature and all the better for it. The band have three superb songwriters with drummer Rob Hirst and multi-instrumentalist Jim Moginie joining Garrett. Both Hirst and bassist Bones Hillman provide fantastic backing vocals and guitarist Martin Rotsey gets to add a lot of different guitar sounds into the mix on this effort. But for me, New Zealander Hillman is the band’s secret weapon. Whilst the other four members have been with the band since the first album, Bones joined after the recording of
Diesel and Dust, and his bass playing contributes significantly to the sound of
Earth and Sun and Moon. Sadly, Bones died of cancer in 2020.
Political bands put some people off, but hopefully you will enjoy listening to this album. Whilst they were clearly influenced by classic rock and punk, I don’t think there’s ever been a band that sounds quite like Midnight Oil, and I can’t think of any that have copied them since.
I’m going to finish with a YouTube link to Midnight Oil’s appearance on Jools Holland’s
Later in June 1993. They played three songs from
Earth and Sun and Moon and the first up, “Truganini”, is the best in-studio performance I’ve ever seen. It never fails to raise the goosebumps on my arm. If you only listen to me once this year, just stay on and watch the performance of that song. It showcases everything that is great about the band in five magical minutes – the passion, the singing, the guitars, the thundering bass and Peter Garrett’s quite bonkers dancing (something that he is well known for).
