Fanning Dempsey National Park Release Debut Album “The Deluge”
Today, Fanning Dempsey National Park release their eagerly anticipated instant classic debut, The Deluge.
For both Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey, The Deluge explores new terrain. You may hear the tangled DNA of Powderfinger and Something For Kate in vivid flashes here and there, but the electronic washes, synth arpeggiators and motorik rhythms bring new skin to the game.
Over the last few months, Fanning Dempsey National Park have introduced us to their sonic adventure, dropping a series of singles and videos – the pumping updraft of lead single ‘Disconnect’, to the title track which emerged from Fanning’s experiment with monochromatic rhythm and vocal melody, elevated by Dempsey’s wild spasms of treated guitar and synth, to the latest ‘Born Expecting’; a scathing critique of Scott Morrison’s tenure. With each successive release, the singles have received widespread airplay across triple j, Double J, Triple M, ABC Localand Rage with playlisting support from Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube and VEVO.
The arrival of The Deluge follows last night’s unique fan event, The Music Sessions, hosted by Richard Kingsmill. Held at The Outpost, Brisbane, lucky fans came together with Fanning Dempsey National Park to listen to The Deluge for the first time. The Deluge Q&A fan event with Bernard and Paul will then head down to Melbourne on Sunday August 4th at The Corner Hotel.Hosted by Dylan Lewis, tickets are on sale HERE.
“Every song came together really differently,” Bernard says of the 10-track LP. “The only thing that was consistent in that regard is that Paul’s production skills are far superior to mine, so I would send him a demo of something and he would basically take that and redo it so it was done.”
“I can’t believe how prolific Bernard is,” Paul says. “He has an excellent habit of finishing everything he starts. Whereas I have a tendency to get carried away with sounds and parts and adding ideas, so I end up with endless bits of verse or chorus sitting on hard drives.”
For the recording proper, the pair worked with producer Craig Silvey, the Grammy-winning studio alchemist behind albums from Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, The National, Florence and The Machine and countless others.
Picking up from Bernard and Paul’s final “bombastic” demos in a Norwegian studio, Silvey opted for a different sonic approach and a depth of commitment that found him travelling from the UK to San Francisco and final sessions in Byron Bay, engineered by the legendary Nick DiDia.
“Craig learned his craft in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the old American method of recording,” Bernard says. “He knows how to capture that essence of a band playing live in a room, but he’s really using the studio as an effect; as an instrument.”
For the band, the pair knew drummer Michael Urbano and bassist Craig McFarland from their Celebrating David Bowie adventure in 2020. Convening at 2200 Studios in San Francisco in the US spring of ’23, synth player Adam McDougall completed a line-up with the chops and sense of invention to deliver The Deluge to its thrilling conclusion.
“We didn’t want it to sound like a Fanning record or a Dempsey record, we wanted it to sound like a band,” says Bernard. That was the point of the National Park moniker, Paul says. “We wanted the sense of an organisation bigger than the two of us.”
Now fans can experience the The Deluge LP on limited edition 180gm coloured vinyl – transparent blue from the official store, transparent yellow at JB HiFi, and transparent green across Indies and retailers. The Deluge is also available on CD as a beautiful digipak offering a digital download and of course available on all streaming platforms.
Fanning Dempsey National Park will take their debut LP on the road for The Deluge 2024 in October/November playing Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth, supported by Merpire.
FANNING DEMPSEY NATIONAL PARK
THE DELUGE 2024
Village Sounds, Secret Sounds Artist MGMT & Winterman & Goldstein Present
THE FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE
FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER SOLD OUT!
ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY
SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER
HINDLEY STREET MUSIC HALL, ADELAIDE
FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER
FORUM, MELBOURNE
SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER SOLD OUT!
FORUM, MELBOURNE
SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER NEW SHOW
ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH
THURSDAY 31 OCTOBER NEW SHOW
ASTOR THEATRE, PERTH
FRIDAY 1 NOVEMBER SOLD OUT!
THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE
SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER NEW SHOW
Tickets on sale now
Visit www.fanningdempseynationalpark.com for all ticket information
THE DELUGE TRACK LISTING
The Deluge
Born Expecting
Disconnect
Eyes Wide Open
Blood
Never Pass This Way Again
Strangers
Past Tomorrow
Dunning Kruger National Park
King Of Nowhere
FANNING DEMPSEY NATIONAL PARK DEBUT ALBUM THE DELUGE IS OUT TODAY VIA DEW PROCESS/UNIVERSAL MUSIC LISTEN AND STREAM HERE
ABOUT BERNARD FANNING
Bernard Fanning has accumulated one of the most celebrated songbooks in Australian rock. He has released 11 studio albums across Powderfinger and his acclaimed solo work with numerous songs now ingrained in the Australian psyche, including My Happiness, These Days, Sunsets, Burn Your Name, Wish You Well, Songbird, Blue Toowong Skies and Belly Of The Beast. Seven number 1 albums, 23 ARIA Awards, 5 APRA Awards, 23 Hottest 100 entries and countless other accolades attest to his position as one of Australia’s most cherished singer-songwriters.
ABOUT PAUL DEMPSEY
Paul Dempsey’s band Something For Kate enjoys the distinction of flourishing on the Australian rock stage for 30 years, broken only by myriad solo and collaborative projects which have maintained a rare continuity of acclaim and excellence. Nine Top 10 albums, six platinum and gold awards, 11 ARIA nominations, 14 Hottest 100 entries, multiple album production credits, a heaving cabinet of awards and several international tours with the prestigious Celebrating David Bowie alumni entourage illustrate a career of exceptional consistency and imagination.
