Ben Lee Plays Three Aussie Dates For Ayahuasca

When Ben Lee was in Australia for BIGSOUND last year, he let us in on his new musical direction. This might not sound like much at first, but when you realise how considerably different the new music that this Sydney-born, LA-based musician is to the kind of glossy indie-pop we've come to expect from him, it's really quite astonishing. Now, on Friday 23 April, Lee will launch Ayahuasca: Welcome To The Work so we can hear the full extent of his new direction.

Check out Lee talking about the new record (and hear the track Welcome To The House Of Mystical Death at the 47-minute mark) right here.

About ten years ago he met with Indian avatar Sakthi Narayani Amma and began something of a spiritual quest. He's taken that further than ever with this new album; Ayahuasca is a South American vine that is brewed into a tea and, when it is drunk, the contents of the sould are said to be illuminated. He says this music has been made as "a gift to the medicine" and has decided to donate all profits from the album to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and the Amazon conservation team.

The record features Jessica Chapnik Kahn aka Appleonia (watch her with Craig Nicholls here) on vocals and she will join Lee when he comes back to Australia to play three dates this April. Two of those wiull take place in Byron Bay while he will return to Sydney for one intimate show.

Dates are as follows, tickets are available from Tuesday 19 February.

Friday 5 April – Byron Bay Community Centre (with Darpan and Friends, Appleonia, Avasa & Matty Love, Nadav)
Saturday 6 April – Byron Bay Community Centre - (with Darpan and Friends, Appleonia, Avasa & Matty Love, Nadav)
Thursday 11 April – Paddington United Church, Sydney (with Darpan and Friends, Appleonia, Avasa & Matty Love, Nadav)