The new self-produced and recorded album, which is out now, captures the soul of modern Australian Americana.
Aaron D’Arcy has lived in Yarraville for a long time, watching it change significantly over the years. “It reminds me of a small country town through its community, even though it’s so close to the city,” he explains. “I really just wanted to honour the suburb that has given me so much.”
There really is no better way to honour something, or somewhere, than by writing and recording a whole record for it, which is exactly what D’Arcy has done with his new, aptly titled record, Yarraville.
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With his third full-length, coming in four years after his sophomore effort, Good to See the Girls Again, D’Arcy chose to take full control of the process, from writing to recording and producing. “I’ve been an Audio Engineer and Composer for TV most of my life, and one of the perks of that is having a great studio. Producing the album myself allows me to put down what’s in my head at any time of the day and work quickly. Plus, it’s very cost-effective!”
The new album explores themes of love, memory, place, and identity, all based on Aaron’s personal experiences. The singles, Borrowed Ground and A Good Place to Grow Up, blend a little nostalgic reflection into their storytelling, while the music furthers D’Arcy’s penchant for blending folk, country and even rock elements, wrapped up in his distinctive voice. It’s the moment where his voice is nowhere to be seen; however, that is an album standout. Yarraville Ground, an instrumental that has been receiving a fair bit of Double J airplay, literally lets the music do the talking with touches of spaghetti western thrown into a modern country-sounding package. “Being a composer for TV, commercials and documentaries, I’ve always loved writing instrumentals,” explains D’Arcy. “I have wanted to do a country instrumental for a while now, and love how, through music, you can really paint a landscape.”
Known for Australian Americana, D’Arcy melds a range of genres on the new album. The juxtaposition of Australian Americana doesn’t seem to faze him, either. “I really hope genre doesn’t matter anymore, but people still like to categorise you and I’m okay with that. Australian Americana is the alt of country and, really, all you have to have is great songs, great storytelling and heart and soul in your music. I mix styles all the time. Yarraville has country, Americana, heartland, pop and rock, which at the end of the day becomes my style, I suppose.”
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D’Arcy has been super busy playing around the country, and even the world, including a performance at Nashville’s iconic Bluebird Café during AmericanaFest, with his four-piece band in the lead-up to the new record’s release.
As the songwriter explains, the country scene in Australia is a big deal right now, and he is perfectly positioned for it. “We have a lot of US country artists coming out, and that interest gets people hooked and they start looking for acts closer to home, which are just as good if not better, even if I do say so myself.”
With the new album out and eleven new songs to play to audiences, the rest of 2025 holds “a lot more shows” for Aaron D’Arcy. “I’m performing in the Gold Coast for The Groundwater Music festival in October, regular shows at Moondog Wild West in Footscray, where I can also be found DJing under the name DJ Moonshine and in January on the Blues train. I’m also nominated for Americana Artist of the Year at the Josie Music Awards in Nashville, held in November, so fingers crossed there.”
Yarraville, the new 11-track album by Aaron D’Arcy, is out now.
This article was made in partnership with Aaron D’Arcy.
