The Cruel Sea returns with new song and album, Straight Into the Sun
When the award-winning Sydney-born rock band reunited last year for its first run of concerts in a decade, guitarist Danny Rumour had a surprise gift for Tex Perkins: new song ideas.
When The Cruel Sea reunited last year for its first run of concerts in a decade, guitarist Danny Rumour had a surprise gift for the band’s singer, Tex Perkins: new song ideas.
“The first rehearsal I walked into, Danny handed me a CD and said, ‘Have a listen to these’,” said Perkins. “And I was like, ‘Whoa, easy, slow down — let’s see if we can remember the old shit first!’”
Up until this point, the bandmates were all but incommunicado.
“Dan had a habit of living off the grid for the last 20 years,” said Perkins. “We didn’t even know where he was; Danny Rumour became a rumour.”
But what got them talking, and then playing music in the same room again, was a promoter’s offer to mark the 30th anniversary of the Sydney-born rock act’s third album.
Released in 1993, The Honeymoon is Over swept the ARIAs with five awards including both album and single of the year; its title track also featured in The Australian’s list of the best Australian songs from the past 60 years, published in June.
“I finally got a hold of Dan, and he was so enthusiastic,” Perkins said. “Danny’s the key to the whole thing; it’s always been Dan’s band, and that’s where it all starts.”
A series of well-attended theatre shows late last year re-energised the Cruel Sea to resume writing and recording, and on Friday the band released its first song in 23 years.
Titled Straight Into the Sun, it’s the opening title track to its forthcoming seventh album, to be issued on March 7, 2025.
Once a little-known surf instrumental act, its fortunes changed dramatically in 1989 when the quartet invited Beasts of Bourbon frontman Perkins to join on vocals.
His charisma and songwriting nous saw The Cruel Sea morph into a commercial outfit, most notably with The Honeymoon is Over, which spent a year in the ARIA top 50 albums chart — a feat rarely seen in today’s stream-driven charts, where Australian releases tend to drop off quickly after the first week of sales.
The group entered a long period of hibernation following the death of keyboardist/guitarist James Cruickshank from bowel cancer in 2015, aged 53.
But last year’s tour — with Matt Walker filling Cruickshank’s shoes — spurred the quintet to record 10 new songs in Melbourne earlier this year, with about half of those based on the CD of demos Rumour slipped to Perkins.
In Armidale on Saturday, The Cruel Sea will begin an extensive run of shows supporting Cold Chisel on its 50th anniversary tour, which will play to about 200,000 people nationally.
Despite his group’s stature and the goodwill surrounding its reunion, the frontman was determined to talk down his role on the tour.
“With such an iconic band, you know no-one’s there for anybody else: you could put a f..king juggler, two greased pigs and a watermelon on before (Chisel), and that would be acceptable,” said Perkins with a laugh.
“We’re entirely unnecessary,” he said. “We’re lucky to be there, really, and to have the ear of so many people. There’s no pressure on us. We’re just the garnish; we’re like the chips you don’t eat on a counter lunch meal.”
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