Defining Australian rock band Midnight Oil is back with their first album release in the United States in over four years, “Capricornia,” slated to street February 19, 2002. “Capricornia” – the 14th full-length studio recording of the Oils’- is the legendary group’s debut CD for the newly formed, BMG-distributed Liquid 8 Records, to which they were signed earlier this year.
Midnight Oil originally conjured up their unmistakable sound in 1976, and ever since, fronted by fiercely passionate lead vocalist Peter Garrett, has been internationally recognized for the take-no-prisoners style of consciousness-raising they bring to their always commanding and often incendiary rock ‘n roll. Just this past November, Midnight Oil completed their very first set of Stateside concert dates since 1997. The 6-week, nationwide ‘mini-tour’ presented all their classic songs live and sneak-previewed material from their forthcoming Liquid 8 album, including the lead single “Golden Age,” due to radio in January 2002. Of a recent date, The Orange County Register reported that “The band hasn’t lost a shred of potency… Midnight Oil soldiers on, ageless. Galvanizing and pertinent. It’s as if they never stopped fighting.” During the first half of the coming new year, the band will unleash this energy on our shores in support of “Capricornia” with a North American tour.
In Australia, Midnight Oil is as much a political and social force as it is one of Down Under’s all-time top bands, powerfully giving voice to a nation’s conscience. In the past, Garrett has run for office on a Nuclear Disarmament ticket, and is currently President of the environmental organization The Australian Conservation Foundation. Around the world, the Oils are perhaps best known for the classic track “Beds Are Burning,” their unforgettable anthem about Aboriginal land rights that was a global hit single in the late ’80s. Outspoken as ever, at the recent 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Midnight Oil staged a riveting, high-profile, ‘guerilla’ performance of the song in front of their Prime Minister to protest governmental abuses against Australia’s indigenous peoples.
Liquid 8 President Mason Munoz, a longtime CBS/CBS International/Sony Music senior executive, has enjoyed an enduring association with the band, who were signed to Columbia Records for many years. On at least one memorable occasion, he also had a personal involvement with the Oils’ spirit of activism. Munoz recalls that “We got to know each other quite well when we worked together, we put them on a flatbed tractor in front of the Exxon building in Manhattan in 1990. We all felt it was important to draw attention to the fact that the company was attempting to avoid accepting responsibility for the Exxon Valdez oil spill.”
Munoz and the Liquid 8 team are thrilled to have the opportunity to usher in a new chapter of Midnight Oil’s extraordinary career, spearheading a major campaign for “Capricornia” and its accompanying domestic tour itinerary.
BMG-distributed Liquid 8, formed in August 2001, will deliver compelling works across musical genre lines from both emerging artists and proven acts. Munoz commented that “There is currently a burst of musical creativity taking place around the world, with new artists exploring new ideas. There is also an unprecedented number of established artists – like Midnight Oil – that have something important to say that are, for various reasons, ‘free agents.’ We plan on becoming a major thoroughfare for delivering their music to the marketplace. This is a tremendous time to be an independent label with major distribution.”
Liquid 8 Records is headquartered at 11610 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka, MN. Their telephone number is (952) 541-8111, and they can be found on the worldwide web at www.liquid8records.com
For more information on Midnight Oil, visit www.midnightoil.com