Never ones to do things by halves, Fanning Dempsey National Park have today announced a new Brisbane show (The Tivoli, Saturday November 9) to ‘The Deluge 2024’ following sold out shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, as well as the release of the title track ‘The Deluge’ and its accompanying video. In addition, they have announced Merpire as the tour support on all dates.
FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER | THE FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE [SOLD OUT!]
SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER | ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY [SOLD OUT!]
FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER | HINDLEY STREET MUSIC HALL, ADELAIDE
SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER | FORUM, MELBOURNE [SOLD OUT!]
SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER | FORUM, MELBOURNE
THURSDAY 31 OCTOBER | ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH
FRIDAY 1 NOVEMBER | ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH [SOLD OUT!]
SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER | THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE
Since ‘The Deluge 2024’ national run of shows was announced, new shows have already been added in Melbourne (Forum, Sunday 20 October) and Perth (Astor Theatre, Thursday 31 October) taking in eight shows across five cities. Joining Fanning Dempsey National Park as the support act on all shows, is Merpire.
Merpire is the moniker of Melbourne-based artist Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt, who writes music living somewhere between the rom-com and horror movie sections of her mind. With powerful, versatile performances, word of Merpire’s live show captured the hearts of Irish indie-rock outfit Pillow Queens. After their double appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Pillow Queens have since taken Merpie’s band twice around the UK.
The tour follows the August 2 release of debut album The Deluge (Dew Process/UMA), produced by Craig Silvey (Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, The National, Florence and The Machine), with the title track released today. The Deluge emerged from Fanning’s experiment with monochromatic rhythm and vocal melody, coloured by Dempsey’s wild spasms of treated guitar and synth.
Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey said, “Delving deeper into this new project with the title track single The Deluge, we can continue to share the fun we’ve been having creating this album. If we’re having fun now, wait until you hear the rest of the record and we bring it live on stage, with a brand new band, for the tour in October!”.
For ‘The Deluge’ video, Fanning and Dempsey flew to Berlin to again work with video director Alex Badham, who also directed the video for lead single ‘Disconnect’.
Badham said, “I’ve spent a lot of my life staring at the fantastic designs in Berlin’s subway stations and have been wanting to incorporate them into something trippy and strange for quite some time. Putting these designs into party mode for The Deluge seemed like a fun thing to do, so I whipped up an early version of this idea and sent it over. Paul and Bernard’s response was “This is cool, we should come to Berlin and be in it“. So they hopped on a flight and we had one of the most low-stress shoots of all time. Wandering around subway stations and knocking off with some beer and currywurst. 267 hours of animation work later, and here we are!”
The Deluge album will be available on limited edition 180gm coloured vinyl. Transparent blue from the official store, transparent yellow at JB HiFi, and transparent green across Indies and retailers. The Deluge will also be available on CD as a beautiful Digipak offering; a digital download and of course will be available on all streaming platforms.
Come and join Fanning Dempsey National Park on this extraordinary creative journey!
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30 May 2024
Fanning Dempsey National Park are elated to announce their debut album, titled The Deluge, will be released on Friday August 2nd.
The Deluge will be available on limited edition 180gm coloured vinyl. Transparent blue from the official store, transparent yellow at JB HiFi, and transparent green across Indies and retailers. The Deluge will also be available on CD as a beautiful Digipak offering; a digital download and of course will be available on all streaming platforms. At the official store, fans can be the first to get their hands on official FDNP merchandise and signed offerings.
Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey agreed from the outset that their debut album, The Deluge, under the moniker Fanning Dempsey National Park, was not going to be what people think.
With this sonic guiding principle where synthesisers are edging out guitars, their newly announced national tour in October and November will take these lauded singer-songwriters into new musical terrain as they perform in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.
FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER | THE FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE
SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER | ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY
FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER | HINDLEY STREET MUSIC HALL, ADELAIDE
SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER | FORUM, MELBOURNE
FRIDAY 1 NOVEMBER | ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH
Bringing their electrifying debut album to life on stage, the setlist will also deliver a few surprises for fans with additions from their collective songbooks and record collections.
Fanning and Dempsey said, “We’ve been telling you all how excited we are for you to hear our new album The Deluge, but that doesn’t compare to the fever we have to announce our national tour. It’s coming in October/ November to a venue near you. Get on board, bring your raincoat, and prepare for a lot of fun”.
The pumping updraft of the lead single, ‘Disconnect’, is a perfect indication of the chemistry at play. Ethereal synths, robotic pulses, thwacking drums, stabbing horns. A cold, shiny sonic landscape softened by two of the most impassioned and distinctive voices in Australian rock, it’s a synergy both familiar and radically evolved.
You may hear the tangled DNA of Powderfinger and Something For Kate in vivid flashes here and there, but the electronic washes, synth arpeggiators and motorik rhythms bring new skin to the game.
For the recording proper, top of the pair’s wishlist was producer Craig Silvey, the Grammy-winning studio alchemist behind albums from Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, The National, Florence and The Machine and countless others.
Picking up from Bernard and Paul’s final “bombastic” demos in a Norwegian studio, Silvey opted for a different sonic approach and a depth of commitment that found him travelling from the UK to San Francisco with final sessions in Byron Bay, engineered in San Francisco by Danielle Bennet Spragg, with additional engineering by the legendary Nick DiDia back in Byron Bay.
And as for the killer international band, the pair knew drummer Michael Urbano and bassist Craig McFarland from their Celebrating David Bowie adventure in 2020. Convening at 2200 Studios in San Francisco in the US spring of ’23, synth player Adam McDougall completed a line-up with the chops and sense of invention to deliver The Deluge to its thrilling conclusion.
Join this extraordinary journey with Fanning Dempsey National Park as they release THE DELUGE on August 2, and tour Australia in October and November.