LAST week on a humid Tuesday evening, when most Australians were tuned into some dating TV show, William Crighton held the most intimate of performances for his true believers.
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The dining room of Maitland’s Grand Junction Hotel, lovingly known as The Junkyard was packed.
As the acoustic performance was being filmed and recorded for a live album, the air conditioning was left lifeless. There would be no risk of giving off an industrial hum.
The atmosphere was stifling. It only heightened the intensity. A sensation Crighton proficiently trades in.
The performance was the first public airing of many of the songs on the Bellbird artist’s forthcoming second album Empire. After the critical acclaim his 2016 self-titled debut, expectations are high that Crighton will continue his upward trajectory.
“It’s a progression, I suppose,” Crighton says before his Junkyard performance.
“An evolution in the sense that the first album was a few years ago now. So naturally my life has changed and my observations have changed, grown and I’ve gotten new ones.”
Crighton’s debut was characterised by his uniquely Australian story-telling.
It was written predominantly at his former property at Burrinjuck in south-west NSW and reflected on his transient country childhood living between Dubbo, Ardlethan and Tumut.
There were grisly tales about killing pedophile priests (Priest), suicide (Riverina Kid), childhood nostalgia (2000 Clicks) and questioning religion (Jesus Blues). All delivered in vivid bush ballad imagery.
So naturally my life has changed and my observations have changed, grown and I’ve gotten new ones.
- William Crighton
On Empire Crighton has based his lyrics on more universal themes. War and murder, love and happiness.
It’s more abstract and reflective of the past two years, which have taken the 32-year-old around Australia and to North America on relentless tours.
“What I wanted to say is within the lyrics of the album and it’s more of a journey through my mind as much as it is observing things,” he says.
“One of the main things is reflecting upon our history and my history as a white fella in this country, and in a greater scale, just my place in this country and the planet at this point.”
One of the most startling moments on the record comes in the opening track Fire In The Empire.
Here Crighton uses graphic imagery to describe falling asleep on a river bank and slipping into a dream where a crow presents the apocalyptic history of Aboriginal genocide following white settlement.
“I saw 12 ships, blood on the wattle, there was a baby buried to her neck on the bank,” he sings in his distinctly Australian baritone. “The water ran red as a white man leaned forward and clean kicked off her head.”
Yet in other moments Empire presents the father of two at his most tender.
Morning Song could possibly be Crighton’s best vocal to date and the moment his wife Jules chimes in with her sweet harmony is exquisite.
Mrs Crighton is the focus of Empire’s other great love song, Julieanne, written one afternoon as their daughters Olive and Abigail played in the backyard.
“You threaten to kill me, understandably/But I don’t think you will/And I’ll love you until the end Julieanne.”
It was a lyric that drew a chuckle and understanding from the Junkyard crowd, especially as Jules spent the majority of the show shoulder to shoulder with her husband on backing vocals.
“I think you have relationships within your life that are real,” Crighton says. “I think real relationships help define your life. I think at points you do get frustrated with people.
“Everyone who’s in a relationship knows where I’m coming from with that.
“It’s a jovial thing to say and sometimes if you share everything with somebody then undoubtedly there’s going to points where things get heated.”
It’s not just Crighton’s lyrics that have evolved. While Crighton has always been more Johnny Cash than Slim Dusty is his country music styling, Empire pushes his sound firmly into classic or psych rock territory.
Crighton sounds like a Riot Act-era Eddie Vedder on Let Love Come First, Mr Brown harks back to The Kinks and the album’s one misfire, Rejoice, could have appeared on The Doors’ Strange Days.
The album’s most raucous moment, 999, is a blistering slab of rock’n’roll feedback and power chords, as far removed from his debut’s country rhythms as Sydney is from Tamworth.
Crighton’s darkly intense material was never going to be accepted by the country mainstream like a Lee Kernaghan or Travis Collins, but is he concerned Empire will alienate his rural audience?
“It’s just an honest expression of where I’m at at the moment,” he says. “I didn’t consciously leave behind elements of country music. In fact, I still think there’s some within there.
“Artists I admire from that genre are Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson and this has some of those flavours, if not sonically, then in the vibe.”
The diverse nature of Empire could be contributed to the album’s varied production. Some tracks were recorded in Crowded House drummer Matt Sherrod’s Nashville studio, like the first album, while others were laid down in Sydney, Laguna in the Hunter Valley and at Crighton’s home.
Field recordings were also taken of kookaburras and cicadas, to provide a uniquely Australian vibe.
“I’ve been travelling so much playing, so I would try and record things while it was still fresh and while it was still in its infancy,” he says.
“We tried to record a bunch of them in a studio in Byron and it didn’t have the same vibe, so we went with the earlier tapes which happened to be at my house, Luguna and at Matt’s house and studio.”
Crighton has also changed as a person between the release of his debut and Empire.
Living life as a touring musician has been a realisation of a dream he’s long chased in his previous incarnations as Clint Crighton (his real name) and Sound From Earth, his indie-folk duo with Jules.
He’s played at Bluesfest, Woodford Folk Festival, supported Dan Sultan and performed at New York City’s Mondo Music Conference and the Folk Alliance International in Kansas City.
“Definitely I’ve been very busy and I’ve been learning too because it’s pretty new to me being that busy in this context,” he says. “I like to keep myself busy, but playing music all the time and shows, I’ve had to learn how to look after my voice better.”
However, there has also been negatives. Touring, especially overseas, has meant long periods of time away from his young daughters.
But, when possible, the girls accompany their parents to shows, like at Woodford.
“We were just talking about Frank Zappa who didn’t have much of a relationship with his kids and I don’t want to be that,” he says. “I definitely don’t want to miss out on my kids growing up.
“As much as I can, I involve them, and if it gets to a point when I’m not seeing them as much as I need to, I guess I’ll stop music.
“It’s not at that point yet and I can’t see it getting to that point. I draw a lot of inspiration too from my kids because there’s no filter. They just say what they mean and say what they think and they don’t overthink things. They’re a constant source of inspiration.”
Empire will take Crighton around Australia and back to Europe and North America later this year on his biggest ever tours. It will likely lead to more changes for this constantly-evolving artist.
“I’m just trying to grow and learn as much as I can about the world around me and music and keep expressing that,” he says. “That’s my motivation and hopefully the next album is another growth and whatever it is will be.”
William Crighton’s Empire is released on May 4.