Following a relatively prolific two years for the great Eskimo Joe, frontman Kav Temperley is going it alone once again, sharing the title track from his forthcoming solo album, Machines of Love and Grace.
Ever since he first co-founded the great Eskimo Joe back in 1997, Kav Temperley has been something of a perennial icon of the Australian music scene. A commanding frontman, a powerful vocalist, and an inimitable songwriter, it’s hard to find any fan of Aussie music who hasn’t had their lives impacted by Kav’s musicianship.
While Eskimo Joe haven’t released a new album since Wastelands back in 2013, the group have been a little more active than usual recently when it comes to recorded music. Breaking a long drought of music with the release of “Say Something” in 2020, the group followed it up with the release of “99 Ways” the next year, with the former appearing on their The World Repeats Itself Somehow greatest hits album in December.
However, that’s not to say the band’s respective members haven’t been busy, with Kav Temperley having been working on his first new solo music since 2018’s All Your Devotion.
Sharing “Machines of Love and Grace” ahead of its official release this week, the immersive track feels exactly like what we’d expect from Temperley’s solo material. Equal parts emotive and powerful in its musicianship, and bolstered by his iconic voice and stellar songwriting, it’s the first taste of what is shaping up to be an exceptional full-length release.
“‘Machines of Love and Grace’ is the title track from my upcoming album,” Temperley explains in a statement. “The song is about the complex and intimate relationships we have through our phones seen through the lens of the last two and a half years of the pandemic.
“Having devices in our hands has allowed us to have dinner with loved ones from all over the world, all locked in our houses, and follow every moment of each other’s life; whether we want to or not, it’s often the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see before we go to sleep,” he adds. “With the touch of a button anything and everything is available to us, good and bad.
“Voyeurs to each other’s lives; I’m asking the question, do any of us feel like we exist unless we’re posting? And who are we when the camera light turns off? We now live through these machines in the most intimate way, and we take them anywhere and everywhere that we go!”
With Temperley releasing the title track from his forthcoming album today, it provides a powerful insight into what we can expect from him and his current musical focus. More details regarding his new album are set to follow in the coming months.
Kav Temperley’s “Machines of Love and Grace” is released on May 11th.
