Brad Cox isn’t just changing lanes — he’s flooring it into uncharted territory with the stereo up.
His fourth studio album, Endemic Intelligence in Multiple Dimensions, out September 26th via Warner Music Australia, is a bold sonic left turn. Less country, more “country adjacent,” it’s Cox unfiltered and unpredictable, tapping into something he calls “emotionally unguarded” and creatively untamed.
“I wanted people to pretty much go, ‘What is this bloke on about?’” he says of the record’s eyebrow-raising title. “That’s about as much as I’m going to say on it. I think it’s going to make people think about it, question it, and then, hopefully, go and listen to the record I’ve just worked really hard on.”
The record spans everything from synth-driven existentialism to Springsteen-style arena-ready hooks and a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Australia’s most memeable arrest. There are country fingerprints, sure, but Cox makes it clear: this isn’t another round of cold beers on country roads.
“I’m very inclined to write songs about the important things that I’m really worried about at the moment, or scared about or concerning me,” he says. “Such as people not being able to pay their fucking rent, rather than driving down a dirt road and drinking a cold beer.”
He’s not being contrarian. He’s just grown up.
“I mean, I think I’ve matured as a songwriter, as a bloke. I’m 30. I’m starting to figure out life a little bit,” Cox explains. “I think particularly for males, it takes a while, and in the last few years I understand a little bit better about the way the world works and what’s important in life.”
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And while he’s clearly stepped outside the traditional boundaries of country music, it hasn’t been a sudden shift. “I definitely didn’t feel trapped by country music, but I haven’t been influenced by country music in the last couple of years,” Cox says. “For me, country music sits here and probably always will. I live that life, but it is just the next chapter.”
That shift is loud and clear on lead single “Sunset Psalm”, which Cox says is probably his favourite song he’s ever written. It was born on a synth and a laptop, and he still hasn’t figured out how to play it acoustically. “It doesn’t feel right to try and play it,” he says. “It’s a bit of the new direction. It’s the first song on the record too, after that intro song, and I think it’s a really good way to set the scene.”
The “scene” he refers to sits somewhere between the reef, the bush, and the dancefloor.
“I go and work and then I come home and I rest, and I spend time on the reef and with my family and my friends and growing vegetables and planting trees,” Cox reveals. “And I found a real balance with those two kind of things.”
That push and pull — between stillness and chaos, introspection and showbiz — threads through much of the 15-track album, even when the themes change pace. “Kickin’ Stones” stands out as a hook-driven moment of levity, a flash of fun in the scope of the broader, more serious record.
“I wrote that in Sydney with a guy on Oxford Street one day,” Cox says. “That’s probably one of the less serious songs. More of a fun song with a great hook. It just felt fun.”
It’s certainly not all soul-searching. There’s a wry sense of humour that runs through the record, too, best captured in the hilariously titled “Democracy Manifest”, which samples the viral “succulent Chinese meal” arrest clip that Cox and his band have long referenced.
“It’s always been a laughing point for our band,” he says. “We often reference it and then [we] just thought of that title… it just kind of makes sense. It’s a big dance-pop song kind of thing, and it just worked.”
That spirit of experimentation is scattered across the tracklist. There’s a guest spot from Thirsty Merc’s Rai Thistlethwayte, a surprise vocal moment from Cox’s own bandmate Jesse O’Neill, and songwriting that leans into the influence of acts like The 1975, The War on Drugs, and Springsteen’s bombastic catalogue.
“I rang him. I said, ‘I love your keys,’” Cox says of Thistlethwayte. “I just want your flavour on this song.” And O’Neill? “He was singing this scat part in the song, and I was like, man, that’s not a backing vocal. I’m going to have to put your name on the record.”
Even with these left-field turns, Cox had no pushback, only support. “I think I’m really good at doing me,” he admits. “It’s about all I’m good at. I’ve always kind of backed myself on that.”
The album marks his first with Warner Music, and it’s the first time he’s worked closely with an A&R and producer Chris Collins to shape the sound. “It just worked out better than expected,” he says. “Chris is such a beautiful guy… kind and gentle and understanding and talented. I’ve got a genuine love for that bloke.”
And when it came to the album art — a surreal, dreamlike scene that looks like a theatre set crashed onto a beach — Cox was hands-on with Newcastle-based designer Connor Dewhurst (who earned an ARIA nomination for his work on the Acres cover).
“He does it all physically,” Cox explains. “He went and got the Kraken toy and put it in a case and splashed water all over it. It’s really cool.”
The artwork also includes his band, who may be session players on paper but function more like a true unit. “If you come and see Brad Cox and his band, who’s turning up? It’s the same guys,” Cox says. “I don’t fuck with other players. We’ve got it going on.”
Credit: Supplied
To launch the record, Cox is going back to the sticky-floored venues where it all began, with a trio of intimate album release shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Newcastle.
“We’ve done way more 400, 500 cap rooms than we ever have done headlining festivals and theatres, and we’re really fucking good at it,” he says. “It’s so fun. I mean, I’ve always had a really respectful crowd too, so having people jammed in together, all dancing and sweaty and bloody licking windows and fucking carrying on — slight nudity and catching diseases — it’s what it’s all about.”
That wild energy is deliberate. “When I first started playing country music, I was going to these alternative rock gigs,” Cox recalls. “I remember one in particular at the Lansdowne here in Sydney… I was like, that doesn’t happen in country music. People go to fucking RSLs and sit there and listen. That’s not exciting to me.”
Even now, Cox sees no separation between the guy dancing on stage in the loud patterned shirts and the one feeding the cows back home.
“It really is the same bloke,” he says. “Even though I get off stage and I go back to being me… Brad Cox, the artist, is definitely singing about the important stuff because I have a platform to do that.”
That doesn’t mean he’s trying to save the world, but if his music sparks a thought or two, even better.
“I want people to walk away with an appreciation for honest songwriting, expanded songwriting, and something slightly sonically new from me, and being okay with that,” Cox says. “If you’re not pushing the boundaries on that stuff, I might as well finish up Monday.”
Brad Cox’s Endemic Intelligence in Multiple Dimensions is out September 26th via Warner Music Australia (pre-order here). Ticket information for his upcoming shows can be found here.
