Album Review: ‘After The Flood’ is a magnificent collaboration between legends Ed Kuepper and Jim White that glows with a passion.

Following a thrilling tour last year between the two icons of Australian indie music, Ed Kuepper and Jim White have released ‘After The Flood’ on 21 March through Remote Control Records. Kuepper has also announced an extensive solo tour across Australia – his first solo gigs in five years following a series of gigs with a full band and with The Saints.

The intention for the pairing was to play a few casual shows together in 2020, but the onset of Covid and a turbulent touring schedule saw them perform two sold out nights at the Sydney Opera House and fluke the only gig at Rising before the Melbourne festival was cancelled. From this chaos, a bond was forged that sent them into the studio.

From the ashes of adversity like phoenix rising from the ashes, Kuepper and White have managed to assemble a sonic masterpiece that positively shimmers and glows in the firmament. Kuepper says:

We took what Jim and I had been doing live and brought it into the studio. It was important that we captured the immediacy of what we’d been doing, that it wasn’t laboured over. Everything was laid down live.

The resulting album is ‘After the Flood’ which Kuepper referred to as The broadest representation of what we did, with the most variety. He says:

The record came out of the Covid era touring that Jim and I did. Initially I just wanted Jim to play some shows with me but it became an opportunity to sonically process some of the stuff that was going through my head at that time.

The tour itself functioned like a guerrilla operation, with shows cancelled at the last minute due to border closures. When we were on stage, we both thought it worked too well not to record it. The sessions were great and we recorded far more than would fit on a single disc thanks to Idge at Soundpark Recording. The title references the 2022 Brisbane floods as does Judi Kuepper’s terrific cover art.

This is a stunning collection that combines the wild anarchic drumming of White with Keupper’s intricate guitar work that ranges from thrashing fuzzy onslaughts to gentle arpeggiated shimmers, all embellished with Kuepper’s trademark yearning vocals and his ear for soaring indelible melodies and astute lyrics. Somehow embedded in the genetic code is something uniquely antipodean, fraught with the sense of danger teetering on the edge of the climatic abyss yet threaded together by Kuepper’s breathtaking visions to create something lasting and beautiful.

White’s instrumentation is at a whole other level: scything rhythms that pitter patter in one moment, explode and shatter the next. It’s like an orchestra of sound that ebbs and flows like ocean waves.

The songs on the new album gives a tracking shot of Keupper’s career to date. The earliest song reimagined here is The Saint’s ‘Swing For The Crime’, which originally appeared in 1978 on the Prehistoric Sounds album. Kuepper’s early 80’s band Laughing Clowns is represented and rewired with the songs ‘The Crying Dance’, ‘The Year Of The Bloated Goat’ and ‘Collapse Board’. His solo career is deeply mined for reworked hidden gems; ‘Demolition’ and ‘Miracles’ (both from 2007’s Jean Lee & The Yellow Dog) and ‘The Ruins’ (from 2015’s Lost Cities). ‘The 16 Days’ originally appeared on Kuepper’s second album under his own name, Rooms of the Magnificent in 1986.

Opening track ‘The Ruins’ has a rough ramshackle start as if an orchestra is tuning up – a fitting introduction as the instruments seemingly test the air like a animal on the prairie before Kuepper’s reflective vocals pull the song into a structure like a drawstring on a bag – a statuesque and majestic presence with White’s almost militaristic drum rubble seeping up through the floor, pattering at times rain.

‘The Crying Game’ was a Laughing Clowns track originally released in 1982 on the 7” EP ‘Sometimes, The Fire Dance’. The track has all the urgency of Kuepper’s distinctive yearning vocals with the added ominous thrash of White’s drumming, resulting in something filled with a freshness and a vibrancy that is positively thrilling.

The spidery tendrils of guitar above the subtle drums introduce ‘The Year of The Bloated Goat’ as Keupper’s yearning delivery enters, stemming from an earlier Laughing Clowns release with it’s rambling jazz influences that seems to wander through the sonic landscapes, ethereal and floating.

‘The 16 Days’ sweeps away any residual fugue with a lilting anthemic pop pace emanating a bright and sparkling fizz that is euphoric: an absolute high point of the album. ‘Demolition’ hauls back on the reins a little with the smooth rolls of guitars and splashes of percussion that hit like a bomb, Kuepper’s soaring melodies poignant. Noises from the hands of White add twists and turns, entering and leaving the sene like an actor on the stage.

‘Swing For the Crime’ is like a taut crossbow being drawn back, the tension slowly building until a fiery release. ‘Collapse Board’ combines a buzzsaw edge with reflective vocals balancing delicately across the surface, an ominous resound bass prowling beneath.

Final track ‘Miracles is breathtakingly beautiful – a hidden gem from Kuepper’s solo work which has a gentle ruminative feel, filled with a poignant regret and tristesse that has a Velvet Underground rumble about it.

This is a superbly magnificent collection of gems that capture the ethereal songwriting skills of Kuepper over the years with the added frisson of White’s innovation and creativity, adding numerous layers and nuances to the tracks.

‘After The Flood’ is out now and available to download and stream through the link above and here.

Kuepper is embarking on a solo tour next month – details below.Ed Kuepper. Solo. At Last! Tour

Friday 11 April: The Citadel, Murwillumbah
Saturday 12 April: The Citadel, Murwillumbah
Thursday 17 April: The Street, Canberra
Friday 18 April: Caravan Music Club, Archies Creek
Saturday 19 April: Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne
Thursday 24 April: Camelot, Sydney
Friday 25 April: Camelot, Sydney
Saturday 26 April: Milton Theatre, Milton
Friday 2 May: The Cube – Frankston Arts Centre, Frankston
Saturday 3 May: Burring Cultural Centre, Upwey
Sunday 4 May: Birregurra Mechanics Hall, Birregurra
Thursday 8 May: The Triffid, Brisbane
Thursday 15 May: Avoca Theatre, Avoca
Friday 16 May: Flow Bar, Old Bar
Saturday 17 May: Qirkz, Abermain

All tickets via feelpresents.com