The soundtrack to the forthcoming documentary about Slim Dusty and Joy McKean has formally been announced, with the new McKean track “I Don’t Believe You” being released today.
Formally announced in 2019, the Kriv Stenders-directed Slim & I is set to be released on September 10th, and features McKean taking the viewer on the road of her life as she reveals “the story of her career, her decades of touring around Australia, her marriage of more than fifty years to Slim Dusty, and her determination to be recognised as a performer and songwriter in her own right.”
Often referred to as the “grand lady” of country music, McKean’s contributions to the genre are vast and beloved, with a newly-penned track from the acclaimed artist featuring on the documentary’s recently-announced soundtrack.
Dubbed “I Don’t Believe You”, the song was co-written with Joy’s grandson James Arneman, and his wife Flora Smith, who fronts up-and-coming the Melbourne country outfit Small Town Romance, which also performs on the recorded version alongside McKean’s daughter, Anne Kirkpatrick.
A true family affair, the song sees McKean at her most honest and poignant, with her iconic songwriting shining through in what is her first composition in over a decade.
“The song was written a couple of years after Slim passed,” McKean explains of the track. “I’ve always been a believer in the saying that as long as you remember someone they are never really gone.
“I realised that Slim, his music and his legacy will live on. This inspired the lyrics ‘Don’t say a song won’t live, after the singer. Don’t say that love is lost, while the memory lingers. I don’t believe you.'”
The song also comes accompanied by a heart-rending music video which weaves together an in-studio performance of the song, along with previously unseen 8mm home movies of Slim & Joy on the road through the 1960s, providing a rare glimpse of their legendary outback tours.
“I Don’t Believe You” is just one of the many songs featured on the Slim & I soundtrack, which also showcases the likes of Troy Cassar-Daley, Kasey Chambers, Bill Chambers, and Missy Higgins as they provide their own renditions of McKean’s songs which were made famous be her late husband.
Small Town Romance’s Joy McKean-penned “I Don’t Believe You” is out now ahead of the release of the Slim & I soundtrack on September 4th, with pre-orders available now.
