Victorian folk-rockers Zeptepi release their seventh album Coming up for Air on November 11th 2013.
The album was recorded at Base Studios (South Melbourne) in the first half of 2013 with ARIA-winning engineer Phil Threlfall, and the high octane sea-shanty ‘Haul Away Joe’ was released in February as a free download single.
Back from a hugely successful UK tour in August, the band have announced a 13-date tour of Victoria & South Australia to accompany the album’s release. Now 250 shows old and 9 years on since their first show, Zeptepi have become one of the most exciting live acts in Australia. At home on any stage big or small, they perform regularly as a 5-piece, but are equally cromulent as a duo or trio. The band’s sound has developed over the years into something identifiably their own, merging elements of post-punk acts such as Waterboys and Levellers with more traditional Irish & Australian folk sounds.
Singer/guitarist Phil Dean tells a great story, and this album is full of wonderfully authentic tales of the sea, convicts and murder ballads. CC Thornley records his electric banjo in the studio for the first time, overdriving the valves with some blistering playing and giving Zeptepi something entirely unique. Claire Johnstone brings a Celtic touch to the songs with her tasteful fiddle playing, all sitting atop of a power-house rhythm section. From the riotous adrenalin rush of The Swiftsure and Bound for Sydney Town to the gentler atmospherics of The Fisherman and Old Fid and the groove of Coming up for Air, this album meets all your folk-rock requirements!
Listen back to What The Folk! with Susi for a live set from Zeptepi.
