NSW singer-songwriter Mark Moldre returns with the first taste of his forthcoming new album, Nambucca Fables, due out April 14th.
 

On the back of a highly successful crowdfunding campaign for his fourth solo album Nambucca Fables, ‘Every Waking Hour‘ heralds the return of Mark Moldre, four years after his acclaimed album Fever Dreams.

A lot has happened in the intervening years. Floods, fires and a pandemic descended, and just prior to that, on a devastating personal note, the sad and tragic loss of Mark’s mother. “Grief stifles you at first. You can barely sleep, eat or get dressed….let alone try to write. Your brain feels like it’s shrouded in a low, damp mist. I certainly couldn’t write at my desk, I felt like I was suffocating there,” he confesses. 

That creative paralysis would continue for a year before he could finally put pen to paper and was able to write again. “‘Every Waking Hour’ almost threw itself onto the page when I took a notepad down to the beach. It came out in a messed up jumble of words, total stream of consciousness. That hardly ever happens and it feels surreal when it does. I barely changed a word afterwards. Melody and lyrics all arrived fully formed.” says Mark. “The lyrical style felt different for me – it was more conversational and effortless. I was able to take my finger out of the dam after that day and thankfully the words/memories/love/loss began to flow.”
 

“Every waking hour I’m just dying to go back to sleep.”

The song, in spite of its subject matter and intense personal nature, fairly leaps from the speaker with a vibrant rhythm section and invigorating and vital guitars that cleverly convey remembrance as much as they contrast with the raw longing and emotional dislocation in the wake of the passing of a loved one. Mark’s lifetime of exploring the possibilities of the guitar in indie rock, jazz, power pop and beyond comes to the fore on the song. Heroes like Nels Cline, Neil Young and Bill Frisell are omnipresent as Mark and his band create an exquisite blend of melodic Americana and indie pop-rock that descends into a frazzled, clattering heap as the song concludes. 

“After grief, there is some kind of new balance… a new you,” explains Mark. “Damaged but somehow improved. A deeper understanding, more empathetic. Love finds new depths. Somehow you find you way out of that mist and into a new morning.”

Double J has already premiered the new single on Henry Wagon’s show Tower Of Song, Henry said “Sometimes music can process the most complicated and grief stricken experiences into quite a jaunty, toe-tapping tune. It’s sometimes the best way to fend off the tears. A great piece of jangle and country rock.”.

Backseat Mafia gave us the online premiere and said “A sparkling gem filled with poignancy and stature….gathering all the collective immediacy and veracity of songwriters from Bob Dylan to Sufjan Stevens.”

You can listen to the new single from today on all streaming services – choose your fave HERE.

Purchase the single on Bandcamp.

Pre-order Mark Moldre’s upcoming album Nambucca Fables on LTD Edition Gatefold vinyl, CD and digital HERE.