Midnight Oil tap into youth frustration with climate inaction on new anthem Rising Seas
As world leaders prepare to meet for COP26 in Glasgow, Australia’s protest rock heroes Midnight Oil provide the song for the occasion.
Environment
Don't miss out on the headlines from Environment. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Midnight Oil have rush-released their powerful new single Rising Seas calling out climate crisis inaction ahead of the COP26 conference in Glasgow.
Still angry after all these decades of advocating for environmental issues, the Oils have provided an anthem to soundtrack the frustrations of millions of their fans as Australia faces global attention for its plan to meet net zero targets.
“Every child put down your toys and come inside to sleep, We have to look you in the eye and say we sold you cheap,” Garrett sings to funereal organ music to open the song.
“Let’s confess we did not act with serious urgency, So open up the floodgates to the Rising Seas.”
The song was recorded two years ago when they also made The Makarrata Project mini-album with First Nations collaborators including Jessica Mauboy, Dan Sultan, Troy Cassar-Daley and Kev Carmody.
It features the playing of their late bassist Bones Hillman, who died of cancer in November last year.
Garrett said there had been no guarantee the band would record new music when they regrouped after their The Great Circle reunion world tour in 2017.
“While you’ve got breath and your brain’s ticking, thinking about the ties that bind us all together, as a country or a community, or as a family or a bunch of mates in the pub, and the juices are flowing, you’ve got to catch all of those moments,” Garrett said.
“For us, it’s about getting as much done as we possibly can while the spirit and the warmth and the energy and the uplift for our take on things are still there.”
After the organ intro, Rising Seas distils the classic Midnight Oil guitar assault to soundtrack their call to arms for leaders to act now on carbon emission targets.
Garrett, who entered Federal politics specifically to advocate for environmental issues, said he was “angsty” about the Morrison government’s “glossy pamphlet going out with a bunch of workshopped cliches that try to pull the wool over people’s eyes.”
“The fact is we need immediate action on greenhouse gas emissions. Now the science is super clear, there’s no debate about it. It’s just the debate about why aren’t we getting on with it?” Garrett said.
“And I know the people who listen to our music, their kids, people in the streets, people who are in kindy now, are going to wake up one day and they are going to condemn this generation of politicians for leaving them to clean up horrendous, difficult and expensive mess.
“And the amount of suffering that’s going to emerge as a result of this is horrendous to think about.”
Rising Seas is the first taste of the next Oils studio album which will be released next year when the band can hit the road ahead of their appearance at Bluesfest at Easter.
The band’s comeback album The Makarrata Project released exactly a year ago was their first No. 1 record since 1990s Blue Sky Mining, and has received five nominations for the 2021 ARIA Awards to be held on November 24.
More Coverage
Originally published as Midnight Oil tap into youth frustration with climate inaction on new anthem Rising Seas
What wild storms say about possible La Niña
Deadly storms that lashed parts of Australia this week could be just a taste of what is to come this summer, according to the latest predictions.
Update after gross find shut nine beaches
After beachgoers ignored warnings of ‘polluted water’, council workers have cleaned up and reopened most affected beaches in northern Sydney.