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Tarmac AdamA famous musical producer once said, to paraphrase, “The final collaborator on any music, is the audience, until they’re brought in, the work isn’t complete.” For the sonic journey that began in Melbourne, via Dublin, Nashville and New York, the artistic collaboration of Tarmac Adam is now complete and they release their U.S. debut, The History Effect today,   February 19, 2013.   You can hear the album
in it’s entirety by joining the FULL CD LISTENING PARTY over at Spinner.

The first single, “Chalk on Slate,” is already garnering attention at College Radio and from Undercurrents Radio Network, whose programming runs on over 126 NPR and non-commercial stations across the U.S.  A promotional tour is planned for spring of ‘13 and you can download the track for free at the band’s website.  TA’s Matt O’Donnell ‘Singled Out’ the track for Anti-Music and you can read more about “Chalk On Slate” here.

RollingStone.com debuted a second track from the album by offering up a free download of “Bygones.” O’Donnell describes the track as “a song about letting go and moving on, of not being trapped by your past, letting bygones be bygones.”  You can download “Bygones” for free here.

Tarmac Adam is the creation of Melbourne, Australia-based songwriter Matt O’Donnell and multi-instrumentalist Steve Paix. Later, Rueben Alexander signed up to play drums, and the group was completed with the arrival of Crowded House bass player, Nick Seymour.  The Crowded House connection is part of the ‘history effect’ that colors this album. Nearly ten years ago, O’Donnell and Paix, with guitarist Sean McVitty, had the full-House rhythm section – Seymour and the late Paul Hester – performing on Tarmac’s debut albumHandheld Torch. Import copies found their way on to U.S. radio, but the journey changed course and the band went their separate ways; to far-flung locations and the joyful challenges of fatherhood.

O’Donnell drew much of his inspiration for The History Effect from, oddly enough, a single day. “We’d just had the annual family Christmas gathering, and for me it just opened out into all these themes – getting older, acknowledgement, aspiration, regret, acceptance.” It will resonate with anyone who has had their fair share of life’s ups and downs. The musical palette of Tarmac Adam – including a haunting cameo from rising star Maddy Hay on “You As Me” – makes it a lush listening experience from start to finish with a narrative thread of bittersweet reflection and hopeful longing. Like the rearview mirror on the album’s cover, who we are and where we’re headed is defined by where we’ve been. That’s  The History Effect.

http://tarmacadam.com.au/

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