Return To Center is Kirin J Callinan’s new album, a reconnection with what made him fall in love with music over and over throughout the years, and personal exploration of the timeless songwriting tradition passed down and reinterpreted from one generation to the next.
Following two albums of inimitable, challenging pop music that garnered global acclaim and marked Callinan as entirely unique, a singular talent, on Return To Center we see Callinan’s trademark flamboyance cut with a newfound fragility that comes curled up in an attempt to do justice to the songs he holds dearest.
On Return To Center Callinan sounds all too in step with Laibach’s tectonic march “Life Is Life”, before completely transforming the twitchy Prince-lite of Momus’ “The Homosexual” into lithe, tender acoustic folk. First single, The Waterboys’ “Whole Of The Moon” is rendered even more melodramatic and heart wrenching than the original, and Public Image Limited’s “Rise” ascends as a mirror to the artists past 18 months.
Recording was swift – tracking a song per day, with producer Francois Tetaz whose zeitgeist work with Gotye is legendary. They assembled a cast of outlaw musicians including Drew Erickson, Benji Lysaght, Stella Mozgawa, Dave Elitch, Jasper Leek and Holiday Sidewinder. They blasted through the set with no time to second guess or overthink and as a result, Return To Center retains an instinctive, vulnerable edge, emerging as Callinan’s most tender yet celebratory record yet.
SPIN Magazine last year in the US, asked the question of whether Callinan’s “brand of provocation is the most interesting thing in the world of underground music right now, or just nonsense?” So it’s no surprise that comes with its own twist. As explained on the long form video also released today “Return To Center – The Making Of”, Callinan has used this release to explore the contradictory lines between consumerism, capitalism and creativity. The title of the album both a reference to his artistic return to the song and also the fact the album was played and recorded entirely on equipment purchased and then returned and refunded from a corporate music store.
‘Return to Center’ World Tour
Thurs 8 Aug – Lion Arts Factory Adelaide
Friday 9 Aug – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne
Sat 10 Aug – Freo Social Fremantle
Fri 16 Aug – The Zoo Brisbane
Sat 17 Aug – Metro Theatre Sydney