Christopher Coleman is the uncrowned poet laureate of Lutruwita/Tasmania and indeed the southern hemisphere with his heart rending lyricism delivered over the most ethereal instrumentation, and we are therefore absolutely honoured to premiere his new sonic jewel ‘Never Wanna Get Over This’. And to add to the joy, a new album with his band the Soft Knees Band, entitled ‘Live at the Chapel’, has been announced for release in April 2025 through his label Oscar Treehouse Records.
The combination of Coleman’s silken, yearning, aching vocals with the delicacy of the music and his expression serves up something that shimmers like the aurora australis that glitters over the southern skies: delicate notes that sparkle and illuminate the heavens. And the themes reflect Coleman’s innate passion and good heart – it is an expression of solidarity with the families of Palestine undergoing egregious violence.
Coleman beautifully captures the personal nature of grief and the avoidance of grief fatigue in the face of such horrors:
Gunshot fired at her only kid, she’s stopped running, she’s standing still, I don’t wanna get over this
The mourning pedal steel guitars weeps a thread through the track, intertwined with the gentle acoustic guitar arpeggios to create a elegiac majesty. The accompanying lyric video was done by local multi-talented Nipaluna/Hobart artist Grace Chia.
‘Never Wanna Get Over This’ is released tomorrow (Wednesday, 26 March 2025) and will be available to download and stream via all the usual sites.
It comes off the forthcoming ‘Live at the Chapel’, recorded in one of the Tasmania’s long abandoned churches with the newly formed Soft Knees Band (a veritable who’s who of local musicians including Jethro Pickett and Stuart Hollingsworth from EWAH and the Vision of Paradise), and reimagines Coleman’s four-album back catalogue, all ten songs captured in one live session on November 12, 2024. It’s a follow up to Coleman’s magnificent solo ‘Soft Knee Recordings released last year (see my review here) and will be released in April.
All proceeds from the upcoming album will be will be donated to Olive Kids, an organisation dedicated to improving the lives of children displaced in Palestine.
Feature Photograph: Kishka Jensen
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