James Reyne releases new solo album, Toon Town Lullaby

The legendary former frontman of Australian Crawl may be one of our great unsung songwriters

James Reyne keeps the new songs coming, but knows that fans want to hear the hits of his Australian Crawl days. Picture: Julian Kingma

When discussing songwriting, James Reyne likes to compare his craft to another that involves creating something from nothing.

“If I’m going to get a house built, I’d rather have it built by someone who’s been doing it for 30 years, rather than one year,” he says.

Yet after more than 40 years in rock ’n’ roll, Reyne accepts that the material he’s best known for — and that keeps people coming back to see him play live — is the stuff he wrote as a young man fronting Australian Crawl, the band that formed on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and burned bright for several years until its break-up in 1986.

“I’ve come to terms with it,” he said. “That’s what’s going to keep me doing what I love on the level I’m doing it, and I’m lucky that it still gives me a chance to make new records and write new songs.”

The master craftsman’s 12th solo album, Toon Town Lullaby, is released on July 10. It’s his first set of new material in eight years, and his musical mates are crossing their fingers that at least a few of the new songs find a spot in a concert setlist packed with old hits including Reckless, The Boys Light Up, Slave and Hammerhead.

“James is forever writing fantastic songs, but they just don’t get the recognition that they deserve,” says singer Daryl Braithwaite. “But maybe that’s the music industry sometimes.”

Singer Vika Bull has loved Reyne’s voice since she was in high school. “I think James is one of Australia’s best, if not the world’s,” she says. “He’s just a brilliant writer. He can still sing great, and his band still rocks. I mean, I’m probably biased — I’m married to the drummer — but they actually, really, still do. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t go.”

Having sat behind Reyne on stage since 1983, drummer John Watson knows him better than most. He says one aspect of playing live has changed a lot since they were younger men: extra-curricular activities are fewer.

“Australian Crawl — we would drink with anyone, any place, anytime,” Watson says. “That was a funny band. And now James is definitely like, ‘We’re playing the last song — somebody start my car.’ You don’t sit around with James drinking beers after the show anymore.”