Summon the Birds
Summon the Birds flash out the shadows of the sky, spinning tales of fallen kings, dissected criminals, Arctic exploration, cloud riding and London rain. The canvas weaving these disparate threads together is the ornate musical setting in which the song-stories become an unflinching and expanding whole. Imagine latter-day Talk Talk picking the locks to Spoon’s basement as The Drones circle, restless, looking for the pink pill…
Discography
Losing My Religion (Single)
February 2021
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since R.E.M. released ‘Losing My Religion’. In that time, dozens of artists have covered the song, but most have focused on a straight rendition with the iconic mandolin riff intact. On their ambitious reinterpretation, Summon the Birds take another tack, stripping out the mandolin, shifting the song’s key centre, and splitting it into three distinct sections, complete with a ripping fuzz-guitar solo. The song has been brought to life visually with an atmospheric animated video created by Finnish illustrator Antti Palosaari.
Blood Love
February 2018
The seeds of Blood Love were sown back in 2009, with song sketches massaged into shape in the band’s rehearsal room. Labyrinthine pieces like ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ – based on the famous painting by Rembrandt – nine-minute opus ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and instrumental tracks ‘Tactile Hallucination’ and ‘Cloud Cars’ realise the reach of the band’s ambition. Bookended by singles ‘Funeral for a King’ and ‘London Tap Water’, this six-track epic is testament to how powerful music can become when story and song interweave.
Funeral for a King (Single)
September 2017
‘Funeral for a King’ is the new single by Melbourne band Summon the Birds, taken from their forthcoming second album, Blood Love, recorded by Tim Johnston (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dandy Warhols, The Drones).
Like Zaphod Beeblebrox animated by Edgar Allan Poe, Summon the Birds have drunk the London tap water and are now poised for flight. Their second album Blood Love will see release on Hidden Shoal in late 2017 – imagine latter-day Talk Talk picking the locks to Spoon’s basement as The Drones circle, restless, looking for the pink pill…
London Tap Water(Single)
August 2017
‘London Tap Water’ is the first single taken from Summon the Birds’ forthcoming second album, Blood Love, recorded by Tim Johnston (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dandy Warhols, The Drones).
Like Zaphod Beeblebrox animated by Edgar Allan Poe, Summon the Birds have drunk the London tap water, sent it along the spice roads of sound (Tim Johnston/John Ruberto) and are now poised for live flight. The five-piece live incarnation – including the most perfect organ sound heard since the Fall of Pompeii – are launching ‘London Tap Water’ at Melbourne venue the Yarra Hotel Abbotsford on Friday 11th August.
Digger (Single)
August 2013
It’s the picture of the diggers by the foot of the Sphinx in Egypt in 1915 that gives the clue: the digger, once so low a foot soldier in the allied camps, now a rallying cry of national pride. This standalone track, originally intended for inclusion on second album Blood Love, reimagines the guttural slang and plays fast with the disparate meanings. Alternately dismissive and yearning, it’s a brutal, folk-operatic cry for legitimacy and love. Recorded in the mud heaps of Park Orchards, with western spaghetti on the stove top and analogue gear in a heap, ‘Digger’ is the last Summon the Birds track featuring the late, great Peter Woodlands on bass, mixing console and backing vocals.
48
November 2012
The hexagram for the number 48 is The Well – the site of the town may change, but the well stays the same. The album 48 was caught on tape at Head Gap studios in 2007 by Brent Punshon during a meticulous five-day session, spearheaded by the late Peter Woodlands. The overdubbing and mixing process took place over the next five years, interrupted by volcanoes, divorce, recast hexagrams and band reshuffles. 48 was launched in 2012 almost exactly seven years after it began in blood, in a runic ceremony in Warrandyte.
Biography
Summon the Birds began in 2007, when singer-songwriter Jonathan Shaw and bassist/producer Peter Woodlands kicked up an idea for a record called 48, based on the iChing. Kris Arrowsmith joined on drums, with guitarist Tim Clarke seduced into the fray after the dissolution of instrumental shoegaze band Bury the Sound. 48 saw release in 2012, launched alongside Melbourne space-rock compatriots All India Radio, closely followed by single ‘Digger’ in 2013.
The seeds of second album Blood Love were sown back in 2009, with song sketches dreamt up by Shaw massaged into shape in the band’s Hurstbridge rehearsal room. These new songs had a lyrical intensity that lent itself to a more dynamic musical setting, inspired by Clarke’s measured guitar playing, tracing itself like gold wire over the regal patter of Arrowsmith’s drums and Woodlands’ bass runs. Labyrinthine pieces like ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ – based on the famous painting by Rembrandt – nine-minute opus ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and instrumental tracks ‘Tactile Hallucination’ and ‘Cloud Cars’ began to realise the reach of the band’s ambition.
In 2014, bassist Drew Corby replaced original member Peter Woodlands, and the recording of Blood Love began in earnest, bolstered by Paul Spurling on keyboards, Marlene Samson on backing vocals, and Adrian Perger on horns. Producer and engineer Tim Johnston (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dandy Warhols, The Drones) oversaw the sessions and lent his golden ears to the mixes, and the album was mastered by John Ruberto (Courtney Barnett, The Drones, Electric Mary).
Blood Love is dedicated to the late Peter Woodlands, who died far too soon, but whose song rings on in the vault of the endless sky.
News
Summon the Birds ‘Losing My Religion’ (R.E.M. Cover)
Hidden Shoal is proud to announce the release of ‘Losing My Religion’ by Melbourne band Summon the Birds, an expansive interpretation of the R.E.M. classic with an accompanying animated video by Finnish illustrator Antti Palosaari. The track is available to stream on Spotify and SoundCloud and can be downloaded from all good online stores.It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since R.E.M. released ‘Losing My Religion’. In that time, dozens of artists have covered the song, but most have focused on a straight rendition with the iconic mandolin riff intact. On their ambitious reinterpretation, Summon the Birds take another tack, stripping out the mandolin, shifting the song’s key centre, and splitting it into three distinct sections, complete with a ripping fuzz-guitar solo. The song has been brought to life visually with an atmospheric animated video created by Finnish illustrator Antti Palosaari.
“Radiohead are a clear marker here… They create their own rich universe with narrative character and personality in abundance” – [sic] Magazine on single ‘London Tap Water
Summon the Birds began in 2007, when singer-songwriter Jonathan Shaw and bassist/producer Peter Woodlands came together to begin working on debut album 48. The duo were soon joined by Kris Arrowsmith on drums, and Tim Clarke (Bury the Sound) on guitar. 48 was released in 2012, followed by single ‘Digger’ in 2013. In 2014, bassist Drew Corby replaced original member Peter Woodlands, and the recording of second album Blood Love began in earnest, bolstered by fifth member Paul Spurling on keyboards. Producer and engineer Tim Johnston (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Dandy Warhols, The Drones) oversaw the sessions and lent his golden ears to the mixes, and the album was mastered by John Ruberto (Courtney Barnett, The Drones, Electric Mary). The band are currently working on songs for their third album.
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“By any other Name” RTRFM Feature Album and Interview
The sublime new Hidden Shoal remix compilation, By any other name, is this week’s RTRFM local feature album! Tracks will be featured on a range of shows across the week so be sure to tune in. Be sure to also check out the wonderful interview at the station with Ben Da Cruz and Sue Summers on the processes and ideas behind the album. The album is available now as a free download via Bandcamp and to stream via Spotify and SoundCloud.For By any other name, Hidden Shoal invited a number of emerging Perth artists to rework a selection of tracks from the label’s catalogue. With 11 artists reimagining tracks by Target Archery, Erik Nilsson, Glanko & Daniel Bailey, Summon the Birds, Chloe March and Isophene, what’s most striking about By any other name is both the expansive nature of the individual tracks, and the cohesiveness of the overall listening experience.
By any other name features remixes by Boy In Nature, Austy, Alexi, Michael Tyrie, Sue Summers, Ryan Jose, Daniel Zinetti, Crier, Cron, Shane Isard and JW. Boy In Nature infuses the languid tones of Target Archery’s ‘Opium Den’ with an effervescent buoyancy. On Michael Tyrie’s reimagining of Summon the Birds’ ‘Tactile Hallucination’, the structure of the song is inverted, with the epic climax acting as a cinematic scene-setter. Cron’s re-envisioning of Glanko & Bailey’s ambient masterpiece ‘Adiaphora’ injects the original with urgency without losing its sense of grandeur. And Daniel Zinetti’s brilliant deconstruction of Chloe March’s ‘Old Tree Mon Coeur’ breaks the original into a thousand pieces and then ejects them into space.
As always this music is available for licensing for film, tv, games and more through Hidden Shoal.
Continue reading →New Hidden Shoal Remix Comp Released – Free Download
We’re very excited to announce the release of By any other name, a new compilation of remixes of recently released tracks by Hidden Shoal artists. The album is available now as a free download via Bandcamp and to stream via Spotify and SoundCloud.For By any other name, Hidden Shoal invited a number of emerging Perth artists to rework a selection of tracks from the label’s catalogue. With 11 artists reimagining tracks by Target Archery, Erik Nilsson, Glanko & Daniel Bailey, Summon the Birds, Chloe March and Isophene, what’s most striking about By any other name is both the expansive nature of the individual tracks, and the cohesiveness of the overall listening experience.
By any other name features remixes by Boy In Nature, Austy, Alexi, Michael Tyrie, Sue Summers, Ryan Jose, Daniel Zinetti, Crier, Cron, Shane Isard and JW. Boy In Nature infuses the languid tones of Target Archery’s ‘Opium Den’ with an effervescent buoyancy. On Michael Tyrie’s reimagining of Summon the Birds’ ‘Tactile Hallucination’, the structure of the song is inverted, with the epic climax acting as a cinematic scene-setter. Cron’s re-envisioning of Glanko & Bailey’s ambient masterpiece ‘Adiaphora’ injects the original with urgency without losing its sense of grandeur. And Daniel Zinetti’s brilliant deconstruction of Chloe March’s ‘Old Tree Mon Coeur’ breaks the original into a thousand pieces and then ejects them into space.
As always this music is available for licensing for film, tv, games and more through Hidden Shoal.
Continue reading →First Single from New Hidden Shoal Remix Compilation
Boy In Nature’s remix of Target Archery’s ‘Opium Den’ is the first single lifted from By any other name, a forthcoming compilation of remixes of recently released tracks by Hidden Shoal artists. The track is available now as a free download via Bandcamp and to stream via SoundCloud. By any other name will see release on the 19th August 2019, available as a free download via Bandcamp and streamable via Spotify.For By any other name, Hidden Shoal invited a number of emerging Perth artists to rework a selection of tracks from the label’s catalogue. With 11 artists reimagining tracks by Target Archery, Erik Nilsson, Glanko & Daniel Bailey, Summon the Birds, Chloe March and Isophene, what’s most striking about By any other name is both the expansive nature of the individual tracks, and the cohesiveness of the overall listening experience.
By any other name features remixes by Boy In Nature, Austy, Alexi, Michael Tyrie, Sue Summers, Ryan Jose, Daniel Zinetti, Crier, Cron, Shane Isard and JW. Boy In Nature infuses the languid tones of Target Archery’s ‘Opium Den’ with an effervescent buoyancy. On Michael Tyrie’s reimagining of Summon the Birds’ ‘Tactile Hallucination’, the structure of the song is inverted, with the epic climax acting as a cinematic scene-setter. Cron’s re-envisioning of Glanko & Bailey’s ambient masterpiece ‘Adiaphora’ injects the original with urgency without losing its sense of grandeur. And Daniel Zinetti’s brilliant deconstruction of Chloe March’s ‘Old Tree Mon Coeur’ breaks the original into a thousand pieces and then ejects them into space.
As always this music is available for licensing for film, tv, games and more through Hidden Shoal.
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Hidden Shoal in Textura’s Ten Favourite Labels of 2018 List!
Hidden Shoal is incredibly honoured to have been selected as one of Textura’s Ten Favourite Labels of 2018. Textura is, in our opinion, the premiere new music magazine and favourite of the label team for unearthing and exposing new and exciting new music. This is the second time Hidden Shoal has been selected in Textura’s best labels list and as always we are nestled against some other very special labels, all of who you should check out.Now for a very brief and unnecessary acceptance speech – we are nothing without our incredible roster of artists, who continually amaze, inspire and surprise us. Thank you all!
Continue reading →Summon the Birds ‘Cloud Cars’ Single & Isophene Remix
We’re very excited to present ‘Cloud Cars’, the new single by Melbourne band Summon the Birds, along with a remix of the track by electronica producer Isophene. The tracks are available via SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Spotify and all good 3rd party digital stores.‘Cloud Cars’ is the soaring instrumental centrepiece of side B of Blood Love, Summon the Birds’ acclaimed second album. Its chiming guitar arpeggios are swaddled in hazy organs, lulling the listener into a waking dream, only to be woken by the left turns the track takes on its way to a beatific waltz-time climax. It’s an immersive, open-ended example of the deft musical narrative at play across Blood Love as a whole.
“The opening refrain puts me in mind of Go Betweens, but the piece itself heads off in a gentle Talk Talk direction. It’s probably the keys that do it, but I have to say the guitars on ‘Cloud Cars’ are really beautiful” – [sic] Magazine on ‘Cloud Cars’
In the hands of electronica producer Isophene, ‘Cloud Cars’ becomes even more dream-like and transportive. The main theme is stripped away, leaving the focus upon the middle eight and the interplay between guitar and drums, with the spaces between filled by aching synth and washes of reverb. It’s a perfect intro to Isophene’s talents, which will be on full display on his debut album, Reverbatory, due for release later in the year.
Isophene is the moniker of Melbourne producer Brad Buenen, who creates music from his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges. Using ’80s synths, piano, guitar, field recordings and an intricate mix of programmed and live drums, Isophene’s downtempo music is lush and melodic with cinematic cues.
Summon the Birds’ music is available for licensing across film, tv, games, web and beyond. Hit us up for more info.
Continue reading →Summon the Birds Live on RRR
Many thanks to Triple R – 3RRR 102.7FM for having Summon the Birds on The Party Show on Saturday night to play a few stripped-back tunes. Listen back here and seek out the songs – ‘London Tap Water’ is at 31:45, ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ is at 58:55, and ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth pt 1’ is at 1:34:50. Beautiful stuff!And of course don’t forget the band’s album launch for Blood Love is coming up this Saturday afternoon at The Workers Club, Fitzroy. More details here.
Continue reading →Three Questions With Summon the Birds
Summon the Birds’ latest album Blood Love is an inspired interweaving of song and story. The 6-track epic pulls you in right from the opening strains of ‘Funeral for a King’ and only lets go long after brilliant closer ‘London Tap Water’ rings out its last note. The band’s ability to immerse the listener in vivid scenes that feel somehow intrinsically Australian, even if their subject matter drifts abroad, sees them as kindred spirits with Australia’s Augie March and The Drones. It’s a very special thing indeed. To get a peek inside the Bird machine we asked Jonathan Shaw from the band to pull three questions out of the bag…
What’s the best show you’ve ever been to?
In 2011, Milky and I went to the now-defunct Harvest Festival in Werribee and saw a whole stash of incredible acts, including Mogwai, The Flaming Lips and Kevin Devine. For me, the highlight was Portishead. Oh man. My heart. To hear Beth sing ‘Roads’ live transported me beyond the stars… so beautiful.
Which song of yours is most important to you and why?
I’ll nominate ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ from our new album because of its unrelenting ambition. I also feel that if you like that song, you’ll like Summon the Birds. Just to complete that track, all 9 minutes of it, and to actually evoke – sonically and lyrically – the falling of a man into the Centre of the Earth is – in my opinion – a huge artistic achievement for the band. It also completes the ultimate synthesis of STB – the music as narrative and the lyrics as sound.
What’s one of your favourite albums that’s unlikely to be featured on anyone else’s list of favourite albums, and why do you love it?
A big album for us in the making of Blood Love – and one that Milky and I bonded over particularly – is Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock, released in 1991. It is phenomenally good and as soon as I heard it, all I wanted to do was make music that good. The pace of it is what captured my heart. It unfolds at its own steady pace and weaves the listener into an unrelenting tapestry of beauty, wisdom, sorrow and light. I think it’s a colossal suite of songs and I can’t believe I only heard about it 8 or so years ago. We also based the final number of tracks on our record – 6 – on the number of tracks on Laughing Stock.
Continue reading →Summon the Birds “Blood Love” Out Now (Vinyl, Digital)
We’re excited to announce the release of Blood Love, the stunning second album by Melbourne band Summon the Birds. The album is available now in digital and vinyl formats via the band’s Bandcamp page and all good 3rd party online stores. The album will be launched at a matinee gig at The Workers Club in Fitzroy on the 17th of March. Check out launch details here.“a fine exponent of Brit-infused prog rock… Radiohead are a clear marker here… They create their own rich universe with narrative character and personality in abundance” – [sic] Magazine on single ‘London Tap Water
Summon the Birds flash out the shadows of the sky, spinning tales of fallen kings, dissected criminals, Arctic exploration, cloud riding and London rain. Labyrinthine pieces like ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ – based on the famous painting by Rembrandt – nine-minute opus ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and instrumental tracks ‘Tactile Hallucination’ and ‘Cloud Cars’ realise the reach of the band’s ambition. Bookended by singles ‘Funeral for a King’ and ‘London Tap Water’, this six-track epic is testament to how powerful music can become when story and song interweave.
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Summon the Birds in This Week’s RTRFM Sound Selection
Summon the Birds ‘Tactile Hallucination’, taken from their forthcoming album Blood Love, is one of this week’s feature tracks at the wonderful RTRFM. Be sure to tune in (terrestrially or via stream) to get a sneak preview of the sublime Blood Love, produced by Tim Johnston (The Drones, Nick Cave, The Dandy Warhols), before the official release this Friday!
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Reviews
Summon the Birds “Blood Love” Reviewed at [sic] Magazine
” Fables of the Reconstruction
Melbourne’s Summon The Birds evoke a rich tapestry of musical tradition while still managing to sound modern and original. Their bio cites influences from progressive rock, post-rock and, well… rock. Having featured preceding single, ‘London Tap Water’ here we can attest to that. Our review drew comparisons with some of the most titanic acts past and present, namely Radiohead and Pink Floyd. It’s a good marker but it isn’t quite the whole story.
‘Funeral For a King’, which kicks off proceedings here, is the first time I‘ve really understood the band’s Spoon references (I get it now guys.) It’s a terrific track and great choice to open the record. There’s something almost cinematic about ‘Funeral For a King’. I think it’s that nagging bassline in conjunction with the sombre brass. Me, I conjure a fur-coated Pacino scurrying through Brooklyn alleyways. Of course this is a symptom of how my own mind works rather than the actual story behind the track. However frontman Jonathan Shaw is in a far better position to expand upon his work. Shaw is Summon The Birds’ raconteur and, as mentioned in previous reviews, his subject matter is more tale than song-lyric. Picture a bawdy troubadour propping up a tavern fireplace, recounting preposterous stories to a rapt audience of gullible drunkards. He is the quintessential unreliable narrator and his eccentric vignettes possibly won’t be to everybody’s tastes (if you’re looking for boy meets girl, try elsewhere), but they do give Summon The Birds their USP. As does Shaw’s waspish croak of a delivery. In the single review I may have suggested Shaw was-affecting some kind of Brit(pop) mockney, citing singers as diverse as Brett Anderson and Anthony Newley. Across Blood Love he’s far more varied. At times, Shaw brings to mind John Bramwell (I Am Kloot), which is never a bad thing. Other times (‘Journey To The Center Of The Earth’) I detect a top-note of Russell Brand (which is).
Joking.
Progressive is the clearest and most obvious tent peg for Summon The Birds, both musically and because of the eclectic subject matter. Yet prog doesn’t pin them down. Aside from the singles, ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ is probably the most Floyd-like piece here. For the rest, Blood Love takes us genre-hopping and decade-spanning. ‘Cloud Cars’, which comes towards the end of the album, is quite lovely. The opening refrain puts me in mind of Go Betweens, but the piece itself heads off in a gentle Talk Talk direction. It’s probably the keys that do it, but I have to say the guitars on ‘Cloud Cars’ are really beautiful. The aforementioned and afore-reviewed (if that’s a word – it is now) ‘London Tap Water’ abruptly closes the album out. I think Blood Love’s slender running time (33 mins) feels even less so because of the variety displayed. They essentially leave us wanting more.
Which is a good thing.”
Continue reading →Summon the Birds “Blood Love” Reviewed at Emerging Indie Bands
“The Australian alt-rock band Summon The Birds were introduced last year. Earlier in the month they released the six track LP Blood Love, which is available on bandcamp. A set of songs in to which the listener digs their spoon in sumptuous dumplings of warming music that makes life better for its very presence.
The material is drawn from that well of the creativity of early ’70s progressive psychedelia which they approach from the direction of that materials folk inspired derivative, to create songs that hold a calm, yet multilayered and slightly trippy, texturing without throwing the mind in to a full on psychotropic trip, rather stretching out on scattered cushions while gazing at a ceiling aglow with spinning purple hued crystal refractions of light.
The just under eight and a half minutes antepenultimate track is Journey To The Centre Of The Earth being my pick of the release.”
Continue reading →Summon the Birds “Blood Love” Reviewed at Half-Life Music
“Summon the Birds liken their sound to “Talk Talk picking the locks to Spoon’s basement as The Drones circle”. But let’s declutter. Summon the Birds are a four-piece band from Melbourne, Australia. Blood Love is their second full-length release. They offer up a slightly woozy, somewhat proggy, little bit folky sound. But let’s declutter. Summon the Birds are on the wonderful Hidden Shoal label. They’re not afraid to give a song room to breathe, to let the lyrics tell a story, to create an epic sound. But let’s declutter. Summon the Birds’ new album is out on Friday. It’s worth checking out. Let’s go clutter.”
Continue reading →Summon the Birds ‘London Tap Water’ Reviewed at [sic] Magazine
“Hidden Shoal recordings from Perth, Australia are exactly what they say on the tin. Namely an ‘out of sight’ treasure trove of diverse, eclectic music. They’ve released products from the likes of Hotels, Arc Lab, Slow Dancing Society and My Majestic Star. I have enjoyed working with them for years and long may it continue as far as I am concerned.
In Summon The Birds, the Perth imprint has a fine exponent of Brit-infused prog rock. ‘London Tap Water’ is the forerunner to the bands second album Blood Love and Radiohead are a clear marker here. One can easily imagine ‘London Tap Water’ adjacent to something like ‘Exit Music (for a film)’ from the Oxford bands landmark OK Computer phase. Yet Summon The Birds are not mere wannabes. They create their own rich universe with narrative character and personality in abundance. Front man Jonathan Shaw (see solo album) is at the heart of this with his Anthony Newley inflections (for those of you not of the same vintage, Newley is how we used to describe early Bowie) Any given Summon The Birds song becomes more tale than track. Shaw intones his eccentric fables while the band provides the ‘fireside’.
As ‘London Tap Water’ climaxes into peals of Gilmour -esque guitars we are also reminded of the great Pink Floyd. And though the Floyd had many notable singers they never, at least to my knowledge, had Damon Albarn and Brett Anderson combined, channeling John Lydon on a ballsy version of ‘Roll Out The Barrel’.
From the sunny side of the world to the Dark Side Of The Moon via…. the East End. It may only be tap water but its Lundon, innit!”
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Lyrics
No lyrics list as yet.
Artist Photos
Music Videos
Licensing
Summon The Birds’ music is available for licensing (master & sync cleared) through Hidden Shoal. Please contact us with some basic details about your project and the track(s) you wish to use and we’ll be sure to get back to you straight away.