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Cult Melbourne Band These Future Kings Unveil Long-Lost Final Album

Mary Varvaris

The band's long-lost second album, 'Via Dolorosa,' was originally recorded in 1990.

These Future Kings circa 1990
These Future Kings circa 1990(Credit: Robert Earp)

These Future Kings were only a band for six years – 1984 to 1990 – and only officially released one studio album, but they still left quite a mark.

At their peak, These Future Kings shared bills with Ed Kuepper and The Go-Betweens and were label mates with The Wreckery, Blue Ruin and TISM.

Now, Kylpyvesi Records has released the band’s long-lost second and final album, Via Dolorosa, a collection of tracks that were recorded in 1990. The album was shelved after These Future Kings’ label folded, leaving them devastated and causing them to break up shortly afterwards.

Last year, the band’s co-songwriter, lyricist and vocalist Perry A. White passed away. Following his passing, his sister and These Future Kings bassist Claudia White worked to track down the original master tapes for the band’s second album.

Unearthed from a shoebox that travelled from Melbourne to the UK to Portugal – found by co-founder, co-songwriter and guitarist Charles Caldas, who became the CEO of Shock Records and founding CEO of global rights agency Merlin – Mikey Young remastered original producer Ted Lethborg’s tapes, 35 years after their original recording.

Via Dolorosa has been released on vinyl and digitally via Kylpyvesi Records, the label launched by music author David Nichols.

You can check out the album on the Kylpyvesi Bandcamp page, in Australian record stores via Efficient Space, and on digital platforms globally via Redeye Worldwide. 

Formed in 1984 by friends Perry A. White and Charles Caldas – raised by migrant families in Melbourne and meeting at Monash University – the band also featured Claudia White on bass, Mark Freeman on drums and Steven Johansen on saxophone and keyboards. For a brief period, Warren Ellis played violin in the band.

The band were signed to Rampant Records, where they released the EP, After This, and their debut album, Carnival.

In the late ‘80s, These Future Kings expanded their line-up with the addition of viola player and backing vocalist Jennifer McCutchan, and the band’s brand of heartfelt pop-meets-post-punk gained them a larger following.

In 1990, the band recorded Via Dolorosa, their most ambitious outing to date. The record featured guest musicians from Weddings Parties Anything, The Killjoys, The Odolites and others, and showcased a rich, mature set of songs.