I have been a fan of Midnight Oil since I first heard their music on MTV in the 1980s. Peter Garrett is one of the leading musicians, over the past decades, who has been a strong advocate, vocalizing the need to preserve the Earth from global warming. His band, Midnight Oil, has sung numerous songs and anthems in that fight to preserve both native rights and heritages, as well as native lands from industrial destruction. For all that caring alone, you should hear this album, and all of the other releases in the Midnight Oil discography.
Now, Peter Garrett returns with his second solo album, The True North, and it is a new and dynamic, passionate anthem for the Earth. The True North was released on March 15th, of 2024, with Sony Music. His first solo album was released in 2016, and it is titled, A Version Of Now.
The True North was recorded with his band, The Alter Egos, (which includes Martin Rotsey from Midnight Oil on guitar), in Peter’s Sydney studio. Heather Shannon, (The Jezabels), plays piano and keys: Evan Mannell, plays drums; and Rowan Lane, plays bass. Freya Schack-Arnott, provides wonderful cello and Ollie Thorpe, plays pedal steel. Peter’s daughters, May and Grace, also sang on some of the key tracks. The True North, was produced and mixed by Tony Buchen, (Smashing Pumpkins, Montaigne, G-Flip, Tim Finn).
Peter says about the solo album, “With the Oils, and even the first solo record, there was plenty of banging down the doors and speaking out about the things that need to change. There’s still a bit of that in this album too of course but generally these songs are reflective of the special things we need to cherish; the natural world as well as our always spinning internal compass, that helps us navigate the unruly passage of life.”
Peter has already launched a True North Tour, that included a sold-out show at Sydney’s The Factory Theatre.
The True North, opens with the title track, which is an anthem and clarion call, for all that will follow.After a moment of silence and peace, Peter sings, to solemn, slow guitar and soft percussion, “We hold these truths in trust, forever now. And hopeful in our hearts, we resolve. To lift the burden of our days. Now magnified, in the true north. Beyond the stars we will prevail. To hold safe water, land and love. Answering to Capricorn, big small, families. One and all. In the true north!” A powerful anthem calling out to Australia and the world, to preserve what we still have; to appreciate it, and to pass it along, to those who follow us. Only better than the gift of this world, which was given to us. Peter sings, “All praise to those who won’t be swayed. This kinship and conscience sees them standin’. In the wetlands life still teaming across the greatest garment leading. To the true north!” Over three minutes of salutation to Northern Australia and the Earth. Along with a request. To keep this world alive.
“Paddo”, is Australian slang for, “magic mushrooms”. I imagine Peter is looking at our world and saying, we shouldn’t believe that we can push the globe, like the common industrial and material leaders of the world believe, that we have unlimited resources to use. That is analogous to taking magic mushrooms. The truth is we have limited resources across the globe. And those resources must be preserved and shared by all the people of the Earth. Peter uses this cricket game analogy to help summarize the human need to always win, and engage the winning spirit in everything we do. The thought there must be a winner and a loser in all things. But we are not winning, as Peter sings, with a cool, relaxed beat, and melody; featuring highlight keyboards, that support his vocals; “There are limits to growth but no limits to envy. Big bigger bust in the land of pretend plenty”. Later he delivers the punch lines, to the theme of the story, “You can feed on wishful thinking for only so long. Winning streaks end the same way and they sing the same song. Till the high tide turns on the blood moon night judgement day you’re gonna wake in fright!” In other words, be careful how you support unlimited growth, because it may come back to bite you in the arse!
“Innocence Parts 1 & 2”, are the longest tracks on the album at over seven minutes, complete. Part I has a fun Midnight Oils beat and sound, along with cello, lead electric guitar, and warm drums. Peter sings, “Innocence is my friend, she rarely lets me down. When the weights come on, she’s got the woes of the world at bay. Empire builders – crowding out the skyline. Short sellers – talking up the end times. Tech bankers – feeding on the deep river of our DNA”. Then the refrain, “Now anybody else in the world might tell you. Anybody else in the world might say. That it’s too late. But it’s never too late, not too late, never too late!” Then he unleashes his indignation against all of the people who use and try to horde the resources of the Earth, for their own use. I call them the selfish. Peter storms the selfish with, “Rich listers – cheat death in the deep freeze. Tongue twisters – smashing out the birds and bees. High flyers – pay big bucks to get a selfie from outer space. There’s always someone with a new toy. Someone selling fake joy. Tax dodgers smash the rough sleepers on their way”. We have one of these grifters trying to get back in the White House so he can wreak even more havoc than before. But Peter also has some solutions as well. He sings, “In case you’re wondering we need a new solution, a moral transformation, a peaceful resolution!” The ‘orchestra’ and band provide a short instrumental, before Part II begins.
Part II opens with soft acoustic guitar, as Peter sings, “So I imagine a court of climate criminals crowded with PMs, sheiks and presidents. Woodside corporate titans, all well-groomed, best jargon. Delivering profits from frying the planet, and roasting us alive, puncturing the thin blue protection line. And here they come: the enablers, the acolytes, the political laggards, the allegiance shifting, grifting, still grinning journos in the cheer squad bringing up the rear. All guilty as charged of the cruelest hoax of now. Whereupon the people, sorely relying on God’s grace – that’s the bank of nature actually – are crucified on the altar of financial theocracy!” More powerful words haven’t been spoken or sung in quiet some time. Peter concludes, “They say we can have it all, but let’s face it the only constant is inequality and the sober fact that infinite growth lust collides with sustainability and reality. Weary of heart and mind, not I. It’s the innocent’s fate, I’m willing to oblige. And repeat again and again, it’s never too late!” Peter Garrett never gives up and neither should we.
On “Hey Archetype”, Peter unleashes his venom on the rich, greedy, selfish ‘barons’ of the world. The poorly raised rich people, who believe they deserve the Earth and all its resources for their own. It is a quick-paced, foot-stomping, rock and rhythm beat, complete with harmonica and a country twang. Peter sings, “He’s a lover he’s a brooder he didn’t get his Mummy’s milk. He became a slicing margin dealer, feeding on forbidden fruit”. Then, Peter takes a moment to ask these people, passionately, “Hey is there nothing in this world that makes you cry? Hey is there nothing left that’s sacred, nothing left that makes you want to try?” However, Peter didn’t forget the ladies, “She’s a catfish clawing mangler, she didn’t get her Daddy’s hugs. She became a high finangler looking down with contempt from above. Looking down on the servant classes, they’re always wanting more!” A message not often given to the wealthy classes; but bears repeating from all corners of the globe.
“Permaglow”, is lighting, that can be affixed to the outside of a home. The key concept is that it is fake and not reality. It was meant to project something more than real. Peter sings, with soft electric guitar, “If you’re alone, must be the hardest of things. With only four walls to hold you in. Alone, nobody sticking like glue. Tending your light, tending to you. No one to laugh at your jokes, be scared of your ghosts. Pick you up when you’re broken, speak the unspoken”. So many, the lonely. The haunting reminders of “Eleanor Rigby”, surrounded my memories. Peter continues, “Now we’re slaves to the system, a machine that won’t slow. Issued a number, ready to roll. Camera’s all-seeing, there’s no sense in believing. George Orwell was right, we had to wait a bit longer. Till the lasso was stronger!” Then, the powerful punchline, “It’s said no one’s an island, nor it’s meant to be. Staring at the night sky, what’s become of me? The screen is permaglow, no fireflies hovering. The door is always closed, no one is bothering…” We’ve closed each other out of our lives; for fear.
“Human Playground”, is about believing again, that we can control the ecology and economy of the world. As Peter said, before, “It is not too late”. And just in case you needed a reminder, or better yet a fight song…well here it is. Peter sings, “The story that you tell yourself, has a sacred power. To change the shape of everything, at the final hour. Barefoot on the earth my lungs are full I hear her words”. His statement to us all, “Push yourself so hard it hurts. Put the damage in reverse!” All set to a slow melody, with bright keyboards, bass, electric guitar and drums. Peter is right there with us, and leading us on, “Believe the good in what you do, footprints of the past. Becomes the start of something new, it’s a beautiful path. Heart of a child, body of man. Speaking my truth any way I can. I still feel the wild inside. So I push myself to overdrive!” I’m ready…are you?
“Currowan”, lies on the traditional lands of the Walbanga people of the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. In November of 2019, the land was scorched by a wildfire for over 74 days. It left a powerful impression on Peter, as it should with us all. Peter sings, set to an Oils – like melody, “We can’t ride this out on the edge of time. Summer flies the blackening there is no doubt. Fleeing from the sun no traction left we’re undone. There’s a straightforward explanation no last minute relocations there is no way out!” He consoles us, “Still our hopes are like shooting stars. Tracing dreams in the sky. Our memories bind and anchor us by and by”. But also warns us, “We must tell the truth we must face the facts. No prizes in the afterlife no papering over of those cracks or we are undone. Inaction is the assassin, understand the consequence. No more clinging to desire we’ve been scoured by the fiercest fires and we are one!” Yes, we all may suffer the same fate, if we don’t get on board and make the necessary changes.
“Meltdown”, is another powerful warning, set to dramatic and slow piano. Peter sings, “Meltdown we’re living in a meltdown. Birds falling from the sky now falling in the sea. Cos we’re now living in a very wild world. We’re boiling frogs, it’s a Facebook blur. Got a ringside seat for the final countdown. Put Santos on the spot with the right wing-clowns oh yeah. So hold me, c’mon won’t you hold me. Meltdown freedom isn’t sanctuary it’s responsibility. For getting with the plan!” Thank you for that wonderful phrase, Peter. We have a responsibility to keep liberty and ourselves alive. Peter sings, “We can be those fallen angels rising up to take our time instead. Down the track thru the trees Kant and Hildegard could not see”. Kant, believed and espoused, “The Categorical Imperative”, which is a universal ethical principle, “stating that one should always respect the humanity in others, and that one should only act in accordance with rules that could hold for everyone”. Hildegard, was known as the patron saint of musicians and writers. Peter concludes, “ I won’t succumb to the grief. The ending is no more torching the land. So hold me we’ll be in good company. Taking on the meltdown getting with the plan!” Another wonderful, victory fight song.
But the best is yet to come my friends. Right now, in April, this is my favorite song of the year. I think it will finish high on the list of favorite songs by the end of the year; as will this album, as a matter of fact. The closer, “Everybody”, is over four minutes of the moral to the whole story of the album. Such rich and rewarding lyrics haven’t been heard yet this year, by this reviewer. It is a powerful song, with a warning, and a hope. Peter sings, “Everybody tries to freeze time when they’re called. In those moments we have left no point in weighing those regrets. Everybody’s got to make time when they’re called”. How will each of us meet death? That is what Peter is referencing. Few of us think about it at all. Peter is making you look into the mirror and think about it, now. He continues, “Everybody started out as a star. Now we’re leaving all the chatter the piles of stuff don’t really matter. Everybody’s going to end up in the sky” Yes, remember the old line and the famous Frank Capra movie, whose title reminded us, “You Can’t Take it With You”. Then, a command to the people of the USA, (at least I hope it is), “Everybody should lay weapons down. Sticks and stones words and bombs. Buried in the sodden ground. Some people really must lay weapons down”. From mines across the Ukraine, back to the atomic warheads we dropped in the Pacific. We have overused weapons to ‘protect’ us from each other, instead of love and understanding. Peter still has hope, “Everybody’s going to be graceful like a swan. Diving deep into the dark still pool of consciousness. Everybody’s going to be graceful from within. Everybody’s going to sing their own song”. Peter asks the question we all should, “I find myself asking could I have done more. In a world that’s heaving and sighing. I dreamt I saw the statue of liberty crying. And I ask myself, ask myself, could I have done more?” Then, Peter’s final warning, “The four horsemen with sharp swords have arrived. The kookaburra’s gone quiet the debt collector smiles. In a gaol on a ship in a hilltop house where the views are splendid. The undertaker has started to dance…” We must make changes…and now!
The True North is a deeply personal reflection on Peter Garrett’s life journey. He draws meaning from the story of his life and adventures in a bountiful Australia, complete with a diverse natural environment, filled by many colors. On The True North, Peter compares that rich past with the sights and sounds of a modern Oz. It is a wonderful and enriching musical journey of reflection, along with one of the best environmental singers of the past, 40 years. This is a treasured album which is full of environmental fight songs and words of action, caution and hope. Please give this album your time, care and consideration. Listen to the lyrics and support someone who wants this planet to survive and thrive, with her resources intact, for all the generations to come!
Album Track List:
The True North – 3:31
Paddo – 3:58
Innocence Parts 1 & 2 – 7:16
Hey Archetype – 3:15
Permaglow – 3:30
Human Playground – 3:39
Currowan – 3:21
Meltdown – 3:56
Everybody – 4:36
Band Website and Social Media Links:
https://www.facebook.com/petergarrettofficial
https://pgthetruenorth.bandcamp.com/album/the-true-north
YouTube and Music Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTp1b1ENP-mPCuDvdlLvFjA
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=714435080563951&ref=sharing