After putting out two EPs of his solo work and one album with Canadian artist Tracy McNeil, Melbourne musician JORDIE LANE Sleeping Patterns. Digging deep into a blues and country sound, combined with his world-weary voice that's decades beyond his 24 years, the album weaves songs that he's written years ago with more recent ones, creating a strong atmosphere. is finally releasing his debut solo album, entitled
Sleeping Patterns boasts guests musicians such as delicate-voiced Laura Jean and established Australian guitarist Jeff Lang. "Jeff co-produced the record and so naturally he played guitar on it," explains Jordie. "[There were] sounds like chimes and bells and stuff like that, and he did it all through digital [equipment and the] guitar. That was pretty exciting... It's a totally different thing collaborating closely with people, which I think after all these experiences I really do like collaborating, and I'll probably try and do more of that."
At the place they recorded at, Adelphia Studios in Melbourne, they were able to manipulate the studio to suit their fancy. Jordie describes it as "a bare empty warehouse which had lots of building blocks that you could make your own booths out of. We could create what we wanted there, over the four days. We got accustomed to going in and recording in the same place every day." A radical difference from his previous recordings, when it was "just me and a computer in my shed."
"It's loosely based on the metaphor for the sleeping pattern," Jordie says of the mood on the album. "Because they hadn't been all written in one big specific thought and they're all for one record, I was finding it hard to think what brought all the songs together. Then I thought about the actual time... A lot have been based around writing songs in the middle of the night, in a weird, weird headspace. Not knowing if you're in reality or fantasy."
A surreal situation occurred one day, whilst Jordie was in slumber, leading to the discovering of the debut's name. "It was about three o'clock in the afternoon and I was asleep, and a guy knocked on the window and asked me if I was awake, and I said 'yeah, I am now.' Then he walked out and I was a bit confused about who he was. Then I got up and realised he was just some guy trying to rob the house. Our back window was broken. He kindly woke me up before he stole my laptop. He ended up not stealing anything, but it's such a weird thing to happen. And I knew straight away that I had my title."
And yes, he's looking forward to playing Canberra.
Jordie Lane will roll into town on Sunday July 9 to play the Folkus Room at the Italo-Australian Club in Forrest. For tickets, call the Club on 62627265.
