Blackbirds FC's third album!

This record has been a long labour of love for the band and features ten hand-tooled total bangers including the singles Rings Around the Sun, Lake of Stars and What's the Half-Life of Loving You?

Lyrically it talks about love (mainly gone wrong), politics (also going wrong), the young and the future (could go either way...). Musically it calls on the noisy spirits of all our influences including Wilco, The Church, the Go-Betweens, Beck and. Midnight Oil. 

The record title, Desire Lines, is partly a reference to the informal, unplanned pathways that people create despite the efforts of designers.

These lines typically cut across a planned route or area, often due to a more convenient or direct route and seemed like a good fit on a variety of levels for this record. 

Credits
Released July 11, 2025

Blackbirds FC are: 

Jeff Baker – Guitar 
Phil Campbell – Drums, percussion
Julien Chick – Bass, vocals 
Jeremy Gronow – Vocals, guitar, keyboards, string arrangements 
Gina Hearnden – Vocals, acoustic guitar 
Bec Long – Cello, lighting design

With Cameron McKenzie - Guitars, keyboards, vocals.

Produced by Cameron McKenzie at Station Place Studios, March - December 2024.
Mastered by Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering, January 2025.

Cover design: Phil Campbell
Band Photo: Jon Baxter

Made in the country of the Boon Wurrung/Bunurong People of the Eastern Kulin Nation. Blackbirds FC pay respect to their past, present, and future Elders and recognise their continued connection to the land and waters of this place. Sovereignty was never ceded.

Contact: blackbirdsfcband@gmail.com
www.blackbirdsfc.com.au

Copyright: Blackbirds FC 2025
BBFC02

Desire Lines

Angela

Following the highly successful release of their albums Field Recordings and 2022's Magiclands, Blackbirds FC (featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, the Vanda’s and Flicker) return with 'Rings Around The Sun', a brand new single featuring a lead vocal from the band's Gina Hearnden and the first recorded appearance of new guitarist Jeff Baker (The Golden Rail).  Once again Blackbirds FC display an innate ability to cut straight to heart with their warm, resonant sound that blends indie rock and alt-country with a distinctly Australian feel.  A song about acceptance, contentment and letting go, songwriter Jeremy Gronow took inspiration from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s legendary record Deja Vu when it came to the song's arrangement and harmonies. One of the band's favourite albums, it was listened to many times over the 2023/24 summer. The sound of the early Seventies is also beautifully conveyed by the use of instruments such as tubular bells, a Mellotron and a cabasa once owned by the Queen of Pop herself, Marcia Hines.   As Gronow explains, 'Rings Around The Sun' was written during Victoria’s lockdowns in 2020. "The song is about getting over the anxiety of not knowing what the future holds and learning to enjoy the moment – a process many people went through during COVID."  Hearnden's voice conjures up feelings of nostalgia and gentle optimism as the band provide the perfectly nuanced musical backdrop to her captivating melodies. "The chorus line “floating a river of light” was inspired by light reflecting off water onto a wall, as you often see at swimming pools or under bridges," says Gronow. "For me, the song conjures up images of lying in bed with a lover in the afternoon, as the sun pours in the window."  

Rings Around the Sun

Following the highly successful release of their albums Field Recordings and 2022's Magiclands, Blackbirds FC (featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, the Vanda’s and Flicker) release 'Lake Of Stars', the second new single from album number three.  On the album's first single 'Rings Around The Sun', which received airplay on the International Americana Music Show, PBS, Triple R, 4ZZZ, 2ser and more, the band displayed their innate ability to cut straight to heart with their warm, resonant sound that blends indie rock and alt-country with a distinctly Australian feel.  On 'Lake of Stars', which premiered with Backseat Mafia and The Australian Mood on Triple R, they again channel Australian rock and literate indie pop/rock and art rock, creating a vivid and compelling musical landscape that intrigues at each sonic twist and turn.  Songwriter Jeremy Gronow often writes songs about places he knows well but in this case he wanted to try writing a song about a place he hadn't been to, using just his imagination and the internet, while musically taking influence from XTC, Tinariwen and the Beach Boys' Smiley Smile album that he'd been listening to during the recording process.  "The name came from a music festival an old friend was involved with in Malawi called the Lake of Stars Festival. I always loved the name so I decided to write about that," says Jeremy.  "I did some reading and found out that lake was really known as Lake Nyasa and was at the end of the East African Rift Valley between Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi in an area called The Handle. And so the Lake of Stars became the setting for a song about travelling and longing for a person left behind."  "Lake Nyasa (aka Lake Malawi) was called the Lake of Stars by Scottish explorer and missionary Dr Livingstone," Jeremy explains. "He happened upon the lake at night and thought the lanterns on the fishing boats looked like stars in the night sky. Anyway, it seemed like a very romantic and intriguing place and the lake seemed like a good place for the song’s protagonist to find himself and gain clarity about the girl left behind."

Lake of Stars

Melbourne group Blackbirds FC round out the year with the thrilling sound of 'What's the Half-Life of Loving You?', the third single from their forthcoming 2025 album.

Following the highly successful release of their albums Field Recordings (2019) and Magiclands in 2022, Blackbirds FC (featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, the Vanda’s and Flicker) release 'What's the Half-Life of Loving You?', their forthcoming album's third single.

The first single 'Rings Around The Sun', which received airplay on the International Americana Music Show, PBS, Triple R, 4ZZZ and 2SER, displayed the band's innate ability to cut straight to the heart with its warm, resonant sound; blending indie rock and alt-country with a distinctly Australian feel.

On second single 'Lake of Stars', which premiered with Backseat Mafia and The Australian Mood on Triple R, they again channeled Australian rock and literate indie pop/rock and art rock, creating a vivid and compelling musical landscape.

Now the band release 'What's the Half-Life of Loving You?' a song that combines all the band's strengths – hook-laden melodies, a Pixies-influenced rhythm section, ringing and resonant guitars and heavenly vocal harmonies – as songwriter Jeremy Gronow and guitarist Gina Hearnden sing 'My tired heart is shrinking as headlights track across this darkened room.'

In writing the track, Jeremy was inspired by some of his favourite break up songs - Beck’s 'Lost Cause', Colin Hay’s 'Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You' and Willie Nelson’s 'Hello Walls'.  

"It’s a break-up song... a lonely guy grieves a lost relationship song," he explains. "The protagonist is holed up in his dark flat as the traffic rushes by outside wondering how long he’s going to feel this way and trying to look forward to better days."

"To my ear it has a freshness and energy that I really like," says Jeremy. "The song came together really easily and the arrangement just fell into place. The band had only played it a handful of times before we recorded."

"As a songwriter the biggest thrill is when the band have an instant response to a song and the ideas flow quickly. If they get inspired with a part easily then I think I’ve done well, I love it when the players get engaged with the song."

Blackbirds FC

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks