The Bamboos are good at signing up the right talent to up the musical ante. Aloe Blacc, Megan Washington, Tim Rogers and Daniel Merriweather were among those who boosted the Melbourne band’s 2012 studio album, Medicine Man.
But it’s Rogers, erstwhile frontman of You Am I, who has come back for more.
New record, The Rules of Attraction, is a bona fide collaboration: Rogers delivers the lyrics and swagger, Lance Ferguson the funk and arrangements, and the rest of The Bamboos the soul. The result, in Rogers’ inimitable words, is “some William Blake kind of psychedelia”.
“You think to yourself: are we going to write these rocky songs and be the clichéd soul band backing the rock guy?” said Ferguson of the project. “But I feel like in the end what we ended up with musically is not like that at all.”
What do you make of it? Take a listen to our exclusive preview of The Rules of Attraction and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
- The Rules of Attraction is released on 22 May on Atlantic Records. Tim Rogers and the Bamboos play Brisbane on 18 June, Sydney on 19 June, Richmond on 25 June, Adelaide on 3 July and Perth on 3 July
