Gurrumul ProfileCelebrated Australian singer-songwriter Gurrumul has released a taste of his forthcoming third studio full-length, The Gospel Album, in the form of its lead single — and accompanying clip — Jesu, just a few weeks before its release and associated national tour.
The clip directly taps in to the importance and influence of Gospel music on the young Gurrumul's developing musical tastes — the songs and hymns he heard in Methodist church as a child on Elcho Island were the first Western sounds he had encountered. It's fitting, then, that this video was shot not only at Trinity Uniting Church, in Brighton, but also on Elcho Island, at the community of Galiwinku. It makes for a moving, evocative package, and you can get among it right here and now.
Gurrumul's tour in honour of the new record kicks off a couple of days prior to its release (it's out 31 July), at Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Wednesday, July 29, and includes additional dates in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and, finally Perth, where he wraps the tour on Wednesday, 12 August. Rather specially, Gurrumul will be joined by a local choir in each city on the tour, with Darwin-based vocalist Caiti Baker also stepping up as Gurrumul's backing singer for the whole run.
The Jesu video clip was directed by Stuart van Eysden, with producer Shannon Swan and the team at Resolution Media.
