Mama Kin Spender – Arrows
A bewitching bullseye balancing soul folk, raw relatability and beguiling melodies, the new single “Arrows” out from ARIA-nominated and WAM award-winning duo Mama Kin Spender tantalisingly parts the curtains further into what lies in wait on the pair’s upcoming sophomore album Promises, also announced and set for release on Friday August 15.
With the anticipated LP set to drop ahead of a special run of national album launch shows through September and October, Mama Kin Spender will be hit the road to share their new record with audiences in Pomona, Murwillumbah, Brisbane, Melbourne, Archie’s Creek, Belgrave, Sydney, Milton and Dashville.
Opening with gritty guitars, oozing harmonies and plenty of elegant swagger, “Arrows” evolves into a powerful yet delicate outing, wearing its heart defiantly on its sleeve as Mama Kin Spender, aka Danielle Caruana and Dingo Spender, detail bad behaviour in relationships. Also drawing inspiration from the likes of Alabama Shakes, Shovels and Rope, Liz Stringer and Pat Benatar for Danielle, as well as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Nina Simone, The Motels and Sam & Dave for Dingo (all of which also permeate on the broader Promises album), Arrows explores, as the band puts it, “the drifting apart through small acts of carelessness, and yet somehow aching to connect. Near misses – every attempt landing awkwardly, landing wrong, lashing out, sly evasive remarks eroding the fabric of love.”
Co-writing “Arrows” and the entirety of Promises together, the album saw Mama Kin Spender work alongside engineer, mixer and co-producer Dan Carroll, with mastering courtesy of Lacklan Carrick. A concept album that explores love’s optimism, decay, rampage and transformation, Promises is an enchanting journey, accompanied by a primal fusion of garage, soul and folk. A roaring yet tender and vulnerable collection of songs that plunge the depths of emotion and experiences, Promises begins with today’s new single “Arrows”, before traversing into perky instrumentals and suggestive yet warmly relatable lyricism via “Bleeding Out.” From here, Mama Kin Spender weave their powerful spell over pounding percussion and raw ruminations (Promises), hazy soundscapes lined with hypnotic melodies (Desert Rain), and musing melancholia that goes down like a shot of smooth whiskey (We Are The Water). Heralding the album’s back end with potent urgency and sinuous harmonies (Dance With Me), Promises goes on to tug at the heartstrings with haunting, soulful beauty (A Love That Will Not Die).
“These are songs hewn from real life journeys,” shares Danielle. “Bruises, Shame, Rage, Desire, Contempt, Bad Behaviour. Death by a thousand cuts of carelessness, small unkind moments, projections, stacked up and smothering the innocence of love’s true desire – to change the very shape of us. This is a coming-of-age/coming-of-rage album. This is the doorway of the domestic debris that we accumulate, which ultimately needs to flush out to make way for who we might become as adults; real adults, responsible to ourselves and others, accountable, respectful, liberated from our child wounds and teenage tantrums.”
“The songs are essentially taking any single journal entry from the last 3 years of my love life and adding music to it,” Dingo adds. “The ending and transformation of a marriage, the pain of grief, the yearning for love, the twisted top lip of sarcasm in response to the honesty of accountability, the owning of a great many slippery truths that lay hidden in my guts, the searing, cleansing power of rage, of letting go, of accepting something I just couldn’t stand to accept… It’s basically very complicated and ornate therapy but woven into songwriting, self-expression, the joy of singing, and ultimately, the power of our friendship as we held each other through storms that were set to break us…”
Renowned for their raw, percussive energy and beguiling harmonies, Mama Kin Spender is the collaborative creative project from long-time friends and creative partners Mama Kin (Danielle Caruana) and Dingo Spender. With a stalwart reputation for songwriting that grips at your core, as well as their unforgettable live performances, Mama Kin Spender released their debut full-length album in 2018, with Golden Magnetic scoring an ARIA Award nomination for Best Blues and Roots Album. The pair have previously won Best Folk Act (2013) and Best Blues / Roots Act (2018) at the West Australian Music Industry Awards, and have also performed at the likes of WOMADelaide and Woodford Festival, Perth, Darwin and Vivid Festival, and toured across North America and Ireland and across Australia; with plenty more to come.
#mamakinspender