Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders today share their six full-length studio album Hijack!, out now via Endless Recordings.
The record begins with Ladder’s instantly recognisable deep velvet baritone on track Astronaut. “All day I think about, what I’m going to do when I get out. Who am I going to be, when I get free?”.
What you need to know
- Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders have officially released their new album
- Hijack! is out now via Endless Recordings
- Jack spoke at length about the new album to Beat this week
Keep up with the latest music interviews, news and reviews here.
This is the precursor to the journey within the album, a discussion of self identity with purpose and understanding of the consequences. The lyrics suggest that the album was written during lockdown, rather, the album was written months earlier – born out of bushfires, break downs and a long term hospital stay – as described by Ladder in Beat Magazine.
“When I write a song I’m not thinking about myself necessarily,” Ladder said. “Maybe that’s the self-preservation thing. Even though I’m going through something, I will imagine someone else going through that thing and I will write about it for them and then that is somehow healing for me.”
Hijack! was co-produced by Ladder and long-term collaborator and band mate Laurence Pike(PVT, Liars), and sees the return of other Dreamlanders, Donny Benét and Kirin J Callinan, as well as celestial string arrangements by Sam Lipman. It was recorded by Simon Berckleman at Golden Retriever studios, Sydney and mixed by Francois Tetaz (Wolf Creek OST, Gotye).
Beginning in 2005, with Not Worth Waiting For, Jack Ladder has released five critically acclaimed albums, toured extensively through America, Europe and Australia.
His captivating presence has seen Ladder share stages with Bill Callahan, John Cale, The Killers, Angel Olsen and Weyes Blood whilst his sensitive writing has seen him collaborating in the studio with Bad//Dreems, Sharon Van Etten, Kirin J Callinan and Alex Cameron.
2021 marked the 10 year anniversary of Ladder’s gothic watershed album, HURTSVILLE, which was reissued by Endless and played in full with the Dreamlanders at two sell-out shows. The series of disasters between Jack Ladder’s Blue Poles in 2018 and Hijack! beat and carved out a much stronger and introspective voice that defines the album, he says he’s simultaneously more shattered and more whole in his sense of self.
Jack Ladder guest programs rage tomorrow, September 11, from 10am and again from 11:10pm on ABC TV.
Hijack! is out now, digitally and on limited edition vinyl, via Endless Recordings.
