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We asked The Vasco Era (one of this office's favourite Australian acts... shhhh) about leaving Universal after two albums and writing, recording and paying for their first ever independent release. The very handsome Ted O'Neill (he plays bass) wrote this for us.

It was a mutual thing. You, know, like when you sit down with a boyfriend/girlfriend that you still like a lot, but you know something is missing? Like that.

We all knew it was the right thing to do, but there was none of this "you treated me wrong, fuck you" stuff. Just a feeling, and a goodbye. so all of a sudden, we became an independent band. for the first time in five years. And we had an album to record. So we played some gigs, got some money together, enlisted the help of Steve Schram, went into the studio, and came out with our third album.

The feeling was a lot different to other records we've done. We were free of the perceived pressure (emphasis on perceived) to create radio friendly songs, so we could allow the songs to go in whichever direction they felt like they should. We were all in more positive mind frames. But the perceived pressure was replaced with a different pressure. This was OUR record, funded by us, so the stakes suddenly became more real. What if it is horrible? What if we have to redo it? Luckily, we didn't.

This new album (creatively self-titled) is the first time we haven't put a concept into an album, and the freedom from that makes it  lot more fun. Something all three of us aren't sick of listening to yet - which is the first time that's happened to any of our recordings...   

About 8 months ago, 2 music industry peeps were sharing a beer at a bar and talking. But instead of discussing publishing royalties, declining festival markets or buzz bands they were bemoaning the barely disguised xenophobia at the route of the "turn back the boats" rhetoric that was dominating the federal election. It made them feel sick... and they wanted to do something about it.

The question they asked was, how can we let people know that Australia has a rich cultural heritage featuring the influence of immigrant populations? How do we point out the incredible contribution of millions of first generation Australians to this country? How can we possibly say we're full when people are dying and we have such an incredible quality of life? And finally, how do you reach a wide audience with a political message without seeming pretentious, invasive or boring? 

The answer all these questions was... "Music".

This is where The Key Of Sea was born.

The Key Of Sea is an album founded on the romantic notion that one thing we all have in common is music. Perhaps that "universal language" talk is a little simple, perhaps its naive but the resulting album features music so complex and beautiful that its a wonder that it hasn't been thought of before.

The Key Of Sea's own synopsis is that it "navigates its way through the various experiences and perspectives of refugees and migrants around the world. Ranging from the beautiful perspectives of Sarah Blasko collaborating with the incredible Sudanese voice of Ajak Kwai... to the passionate Greek songs of love and loss performed by Tim Rogers and his Greek "compania"... all the way to wild and complex Ethiopian rhythms of The Cat Empire collaborating with Anbessa Gebrehiwot. The collaborations are beautiful, fun and occasionally heart-breaking."

I could fill this page with thousands of words on every song and every collaboration on the album, Urthboys breathtaking lyrisicm in "Letters from Jamshed", Old Man River and Javier Fredes' brutal sarcasm in "Merry Christmas Island", Skipping Girl Vinegar and Tri Nguyen's haunting "Bullets and Mango Trees". The music is beautiful but the stories behind them are what make this album so special. Take the time to read about it at www.thekeyofsea.com.au.

FInally, the video above is a short documentary about the sold out launch gig, hosted by The Cat Empire and featuring The Vasco Era, Blue King Brown, Diafrix, Anbessa Gebrihiwot and Yousif Aziz. It gets to the heart of what this amazing project was about.