19th of July is the date to set in your diaries, as Brownswood Recordings will be releasing Sunny Side Up, the Aussie answer to 2018's phenomenal London-based compilation We Out Here.
Featuring a new generation of young, independent musicians, the compilation will showcase the vibrant creative scene of Melbourne. Taking cues from soul, jazz and club culture, "the nine acts on Sunny Side Up have grown out of a city free from the weight of overbearing musical traditions, where outside influences are freely re-interpreted and mashed together. A celebratory record, it’s energised by a collaborative spirit as much as by the variety of styles which it collides together".
"The record documents a scene poised at saturation point, after steadily expanding since the breakout success Hiatus Kaiyote in 2012, with whom many of the record’s groups share members, friendships or studios. Nurtured by institutions like record shop Northside Records, this is an album which shows splashes of deep house, broken beat, cha-cha, samba, p-funk and soul. Unlike other cities with storied histories in jazz culture, the sound of Melbourne is free of any jazz customs to follow behind, leaving musicians free to incorporate hip hop, house or R&B. Jazz is the mindset, the output is infinitely diverse".
"Recorded over a week at The Grove, a fabled house-cum-studio in the North Melbourne suburb of Coburg, nine of Melbourne’s hotly-tipped talents take the lead with their own take on a musical form rooted in jazz. Engineered & mixed by Nick Herrera (Hiatus Kaiyote, Nai Palm, 30/70), with Silentjay as musical director, the result is a colourful portrait of a scene’s potential. Sunny Side Up explores the story behind this flourishing period and shines light on some of its most compelling figures."
Other than Phil Stroud and Silent Jay, the artists featured on the record include Dufresne, Kuzich, Audrey Powne, Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, Laneous, Horatio Luna and Allysha Joy.