+ ANNOUNCES NEW 14-TRACK ALBUM + TOUR Including IPAC Wollongong
September 06, 2023
Diesel shares news of his latest album Bootleg Melancholy, an unabashedly exuberant 14-track LP that is at once the most diverse and most cohesive album Diesel has recorded to date. To celebrate the announcement, Diesel has unveiled the first cut from it, album opener ‘Forever’, alongside a video shot in Los Angeles. The album is out now.
Loaded with hooks, these songs greet you with the warmth and familiarity of a good friend, songs about family, mortality, childhood, and dreams. Travelling across time, place, and memory, this is rousing yet reflective adult pop music that celebrates the joys of everyday life while braving the difficult stuff – the challenges we all eventually face – with insights and tenderness.
“The world can be hard and that takes us over in our heads but love and joy are always right there in front of us if we remember to look for them too,” says Mark. “If I’m going to write about my anxieties and fears, I’ll mix it with other parts of me – humour, memories, just small moments – because it’s more welcoming to hear but also a truer picture of who I am. When I get scared, I’m laughing at myself for being scared, you know?”
Watch ‘Forever’
Recorded in his home studio, Diesel played most of the instruments on the album himself, a practical outcome as much of it was made during the more isolated months of recent years. But the arrangements remain ambitious and the mix sparkles with intriguing sounds and inspired self-accompaniment on instruments like cello, double bass, vintage synths and drum machines, mandolin, and the string-like electronic Omnichord.
Featuring first single ‘Forever’, out today, the listener is going to take from Bootleg Melancholy what they best need, whether the pop rush of an infectious chorus, the reassurances of a heartening lyric sung with Diesel’s trademark soulfulness, or the satisfying interjection of some exhilarating solos on vintage guitars.
“I know when it feels potent and if it feels potent to me, my hope is that it would feel like that to someone else because that’s all I’m really trying for.”
Diesel’s new album Bootleg Melancholy, on vinyl, CD and digital via Bloodlines, is out now.
A little more about Diesel
Diesel has personified a life’s devotion to music in an outstanding four-decade, million-record-selling career. His fans have cheered him on along a remarkable road of vital and varied endeavours, whether he’s excelling as a blues man or soul stylist, as a pop devotee or rock powerhouse, or with all elements in unison as the dynamic and acclaimed live performer Diesel’s audiences know him to be. Music lovers hail him as a guitarist’s guitarist, while the industry seeks him out as an in-demand guest instrumentalist, songwriter, engineer, and producer.
–
TOUR DATES
Tickets available from www.dieselmusic.com.au/shows
Friday 01 Sept | The Pavilion Pac, Sutherland Shire NSW
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Saturday 09 Sept | Illawarra Pac, Wollongong NSW
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Saturday 30 Sept | Big Skies Festival, Jimbour QLD
Sunday 01 Oct | Caloundra Music Festival, Caloundra QLD
Friday 6 Oct | Union Community Arts Centre, Wonthaggi VIC
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Saturday 7 Oct | The Memo, Healesville VIC
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Friday 13 Oct | The Wedge, Sale VIC
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Saturday 14 Oct | Alexander Theatre, Clayton VIC
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Sunday 15 Oct | The Story House, Geelong VIC
Doors Open 5:30pm | Show 6:00 pm – 8:15pm
Friday 3 Nov | Paranaple Arts Centre, Devonport TAS
Doors Open 7:30pm | Show 8:00 pm – 10:15pm
Saturday 4 Nov | Franklin Palais Theatre, Huon Valley TAS
Doors Open 7:00pm | Show 7:30 pm – 9:45pm
Saturday 18 Nov | This is Livin’ Fest, Rainbow Beach QLD
