Scott Darlow; A Mixture Of Indigenous Heritage & Musical Activism

Here at Killyourstereo.com, we don’t really cover Indigenous music, and I feel like that’s a glaring oversight as good music is good music, no matter what genre or style it falls into. Now enter Melbourne’s Scott Darlow.

Since starting in 2003, Scott Darlow is a 36-year-old independent musician from Victoria, and boy, he sure has a lot of hats to wear. From singer-songwriter, aboriginal activist to even being both a World Vision spokesman and artist; Darlow sure has a lot going on for himself and he seems like one busy individual. And that lifestyle doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon with 'Sorry'.

His recently released ten-track solo album, ‘Sorry’, (which is also his fifth full-length to date) is for all intents and purposes, the guitarist, singer and didgeridoo players very own Dreamtime score; a beautiful appreciation of his own heritage and of Australia's first culture. Musically, this style is a potent blend of country, rock and pop, and while the music that he creates isn’t that original, it is by no means 'bad' or of a low quality, and this record is an immensely satisfying and consistent listen at that. It's a record that proves that simple music with a strong, powerful message behind it is sometimes all you need to have a great album on your hands.

[caption id="attachment_1089276" align="alignnone" width="699"] The artwork for Scott Darlow's new album, 'Sorry'.[/caption]

Music aside, at the core of Darlow’s work is a message that can be broken down to but a single code: ‘F.L.U.T.E’. This stands for forgiveness, love, understanding, tolerance, and finally, empathy. Throughout these ten tracks, the listener is taken on an uplifting journey from impassioned activism, cultural backgrounds, to gentle love ballads with ‘Arms Of Love’, and even upbeat country jams in the form of ‘All I Am’; all of which are fitting tunes for this current Summer weather. Also, to further add to the strength of this release, Darlow even teams up with Australian music icon and Goanna frontman, Shane Howard, to fittingly recreate Goanna’s 1982 hit song, ‘Solid Rock’ as a duet to help cap off the record.

Darlow’s Aboriginal heritage is that of the proud Yorta Yorta Mob, who traditionally lived in northeast Victoria around the Goulburn and the Murray River areas, as well as South-eastern New South Wales (also, yes, he's white if you couldn't tell). However, as a descendant of the Yorta Yorta Mob and as someone so ingrained in activism for his people, this record’s eponymous song carries along that heritage by uniting the traditional didgeridoo with his guitar and soulful vocals, which also includes Indigenous vocal delivery. The song also contains a formidable message with the powerful lyrics of “Sorry for tears, down through the years you’ve cried, sorry for respect that you’ve been denied.”

It is that ever-present awareness of our nation's history and genocidal foundations that he keeps at the forefront of his work. Over the past decade, Scott Darlow has dedicated his life to educating youth all around Australia and all over the world on our country’s indigenous culture and on reconciliation. Through his work in Australian schools, Darlow is able to promote The Australia Program along with World Vision, encouraging families to support our Aboriginal communities and provide assistance to those in need right here in our own backyard. Every single year, he has spoken and performed at over 100+ schools around the globe, with Darlow reaching a staggering 500,000 students to date, and those numbers are bound to keep rising with this grand new album. Damn, I wish that Darlow had played at one of my schools in my teen years.

Anyway, go listen to 'Sorry', it’s fucking great! Of course, if you are stretched for time in the now Holiday season and you can't sit through ten songs, then I absolutely implore you to just listen to the album's first song, 'Down Like Flies' - that should do you nicely.