Review’s Isolation Room: Sarah McLeod covers Cold Chisel classic Flame Trees
In a sharp detour from her role as guitar-slinging frontwoman of rock band The Superjesus, McLeod offers a gorgeous solo piano take on a much-loved favourite | WATCH
Learning to play the piano has been one of Sarah McLeod’s pandemic projects, and while it appears to be a sharp detour from her established role as the guitar-slinging frontwoman of rock band The Superjesus, adding a new skill has helped to widen her artistic lens.
“Every time I do something different, I learn from that, and then I put it back into every facet of my musicality,” McLeod told The Weekend Australian. “I’ve noticed that if I learn something on piano, when I go back to guitar, I’m suddenly slightly better.”
“I just want to get better at everything, and I feel like I’ve got a good decade where I can get to the next level,” she said. “I think it’s good to keep challenging yourself, because it makes the journey of learning easier.”
For Review’s exclusive Isolation Room video series, the singer-songwriter has recorded a stunning solo cover of Flame Trees, the much-loved song by fellow Adelaide-born band Cold Chisel.
Filmed at her home in Brisbane while flanked by a Marshall guitar amplifier, lit candles and a pointy silver ARIA Award, McLeod found the song’s famous key change (”Do you remember / Nothing stopped us on the field in our day”) required a vocal stretch, a la Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes in full flight.
“If you do a part like that half-arsed, you’re going to go flat, and it’s going to sound bad,” she said. “You’ve got to do it with conviction, and you’ve got to do it loud.”
Her home recording required multiple takes to get it right, and the following day, she bumped into a neighbour.
“I said, ‘Did you hear me singing Flame Trees over and over yesterday?’ And he said, ‘No, but my wife did – and she said it was fabulous’,” said McLeod with a laugh.
This week, she reunited with her Superjesus bandmates in Adelaide for their first rehearsal in more than two years, ahead of an upcoming run of shows across WA, SA and Queensland to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the band’s second album Jet Age, which is certified platinum by ARIA.
In early July, McLeod performed at the Big Red Bash music festival, where about 10,000 people gathered in western Queensland for a multi-day event headlined by Paul Kelly and Ian Moss.
It looks as though the Bash will be the only major music festival to be held anywhere in the country this year, given the various border closures and Covid lockdowns now in place.
“I’ve been quite lucky: I’ve managed to sneak in and out, and miss outbreaks here and there,” she said. “I’ve still had a hell of a lot of gigs cancel on me, but I’ve managed to play the odd gig, just to keep my spirits up.”
“As a singer, it’s one thing to play music at home,” said McLeod. “But to play music with people and all enjoy it together? Just to be able to do one show can fight off the black dog for a good couple of months.”
To rewatch our Review’s Isolation Room archive, click here.
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