Ōtepoti alt rock group Julian Temple Band release their new album ‘Tunnels’

21 September 2023

Julian Temple Band are an alternative rock group based in Ōtepoti, Dunedin. With nearly two decades of writing, recording and touring to their name, Julian Temple Band are the personification of musical journeymen.

Centered around the gruff and husky vocal delivery from the group’s name sake, Julian Temple Band’s line up consists of layers of orchestral strings (Alex Vaatstra), delay-saturated guitars (Andy Straight), and slippery touches of keyboard and synthesisers (Logan Hampton) add a vast depth to the already incredibly tight foundation of funky jangling acoustic guitar and dark vocals (Julian Temple), thumping bass (Stephen Marshall) and precisely dynamic drumming (Paul McLennan-Kissel).

Today the Julian Temple Band release their seventh studio album Tunnels, both digitally and on limited edition vinyl LP (pressed locally at Holiday Records). Tunnels sees the band really hitting their stride, performing to a sell out audiences throughout the South Island and the two lead singles (No Evil and Tunnels) becoming the most streamed tracks of their career to date.

Tunnels

The Ōtepoti six-piece have been honing their craft of alternative rock for the better part of two decades. Tunnels careens from rough and ready alt rock belters (No Evil, Hide Away) to more sombre numbers made from shuffled drums and lush synth or string arrangements (Library, Guilt, Head In The Clouds). The tracks on Tunnels are held together by Temple’s impassioned vocal delivery, one that carries deep emotional resonance. Special mention must be made of a rare Don McGlashan appearance, providing haunting tenor horns to the song Guilt.

Reflecting on how the album fits in their body of work, Temple puts it, “if the first two albums (2009’s Quiet Earth and 2010’s Balance Escapes) were the feet or the foundations, the second two albums (2011’s Nowhere Fast and 2013’s Upsidedownbackwards) were the legs, where the band started to run, the third pair of albums (2015’s Ceiling In The Sky and 2018’s Antarctica) were the hands and arms, where the band started to build a sound of their own; then Tunnels is the torso and more specifically the heart.”

The album’s tracks are a collection of thematic twins interspersed throughout. However the title track, Tunnels, sits on its own, encompassing the theme of the entire album. This song is a reference to Temple’s journey, navigating a way to communicate with his mother, a brilliant jazz pianist who, in his romantic theory, has started to traverse the multiverse and can’t quite figure out which world or life she belongs in. She was committed to a lock-up memory care facility after being diagnosed with dementia, probably brought on by heavy alcoholism – a struggle that runs deep in the themes of much of this work.

“This song is close to my heart,” says Temple. “It’s about finding new ways of communicating, especially through music, with someone who has dementia. It’s like she’s been travelling through the multiverse, through many different lives and forms but can’t quite decide which world to stay in. She can’t speak in a coherent manner but can sing a song perfectly and still plays the piano like a boss!”

With Tunnels now released Temple notes that “This is by far the hardest we’ve ever worked on any album – so it doesn’t come lightly when we say that we are absolutely over the moon to finally be releasing it to the world. It has been an extremely long road to get to this point, with many ups and many downs, and we can’t wait to share the songs with our audience, old and new, through the airwaves and back out on the road live!”

The Julian Temple Band are known for being road dogs, and they are living up to the hype with a 14 date tour through Aotearoa to celebrate the release of Tunnels. Their live show is powerful, with the band honing their craft through years of extensive touring of Australia and the USA.

Catch them:

September 22 – Silverstream Hotel, Kimbell
September 23 – Darkroom, Christchurch
September 29 – Swan Room, Invercargill
September 30 – New Athenaeum Theatre, Dunedin (2 x shows)
October 4 – The Dubliner, Methven
October 5 – Millerton Hall, West Coast
October 6 – Lyric Theatre, West Coast
October 7 – Mussel Inn, Takaka
October 8 – Sprig & Fern on Hardy Street, Nelson
October 13 – Redcliff Cafe, Te Anau
October 14 – Sherwood, Queenstown
October 27 – Moon, Wellington
October 28 – Wine Cellar, Auckland