When Anthology Recordings’s ace publicist Jess Rotter asked me if we wanted to premiere something from the label’s upcoming Australian 70s folk-rock compilation Follow the Sun even before I heard it I pretty much knew from the description alone that it was something I was probably going to like. I’m always looking for something new to listen to and this sounded like “it” to me. An Australian 70s folk-rock compilation? Yes, please, count me the fuck in…

Follow The Sun was compiled by Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring) and Keith Abrahamsson (Founder / Head of A&R at Anthology Recordings and Mexican Summer). The album is a survey—twenty cuts—of the golden age of 70s FM “soft rock” by acts who were (mostly) unknown outside of Australia, if they were even known there.

Independent labels and recording studios proliferated across Australia during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, while major labels simultaneously scoured the furthest reaching corners of the continent to foster new approaches in making music. With both indies and majors ultimately compelled to uncover the almighty single, the fringe was frequently explored for “crossover” sounds. This engendered a creative freedom amongst artists that mirrored the open-ended mood of the times. Anything was possible.

Follow The Sun does not represent those Australian acts who produced a number one single leading to international fame and fortune. Some of the artists on the compilation never even made the local hit parade. But the fact that many of these artists didn’t enjoy chart success is secondary; these artists represent the consciousness of their time. As radio-perpetrated pop fodder trodding the middle ground to ensure maximum advertising, the artists on this album chronicled the times in their own unique ways. [Emphasis added]

If that last sentence isn’t the single best thing I’ve read in a music industry press release all year, then I don’t know what would be… It oddly makes you want to hear it even more, right? Worked for me!

Dig the scuffed shuffle of Mata Hari’s gorgeous and catchy “Easy” in the animated video for it below. Follow The Sun is available May 5, 2017 from Anthology.
 

Illustrations by James Vinciguerra / video by Serena Forghieri