Briggs has shared his latest taste of new music, sharing “Extra Extra” as the first single from his upcoming EP.
Though Briggs hasn’t released a full-length solo release since 2014’s Sheplife, there’s been no denying that he’s been a constant figure of the Aussie music scene.
Teaming up with longtime friend Trials to create the critically-acclaimed A.B. Original, and releasing their Reclaim Australia debut in 2016, Briggs has been sharing a number of singles since then.
Over the last year, Briggs put white privilege in the spotlight with “Life is Incredible”, before teaming up with Tim Minchin to share “HouseFyre” back in April. Now, Shepparton’s finest is back with another new track, dropping “Extra Extra” this morning.
“‘Extra, Extra’ is how I live. No days off,” Briggs says of the track. “Everything I do is Extra – you can check my resume for that. A lot of people know me for a lot of different things – but this is back to the fundamentals of who I am as Briggs.”
With Briggs’ trademark lyrics helped along by a bouncy beat courtesy of Trials, Briggs notes that “Extra Extra” came together rather quickly.
“Trials had the beat he put it on and I cooked it up that same day,” he explained. “This is us in our purest form: beat, rap & on to the next one.”
The new single’s release also features artwork by respected indigenous artist Reko Rennie, who designed the geometric background element before adding in his distinctive style of merging traditional diamond-shaped designs, hand-drawn symbols and repetitive patterning to subvert romantic ideologies of Aboriginal identity.
While “Extra Extra” serves as the first taster of a forthcoming EP from Briggs, there’s no denying that he’s been incredibly busy over the last year.
In addition to his work as a screenwriter on Matt Groening’s Disenchantment, and his upcoming appearance as a host for the virtual edition of the APRA Music Awards, Briggs also released the book Our Home, Our Heartbeat just this month, which is a children’s title that is an adaptation of his celebrated song “The Children Came Back”.
“Extra Extra” is out now through Island Records.
