Jebediah Announce Their First New Album In 12 Years, 'Oiks'

While Jebediah never truly left us – they’ve been a touring mainstay and remained active – they’re preparing to release their first album in 12 years, Oiks, and today drop the new single Rubberman.

Their new single is an acoustic-led, quirky track with a music video starring animated figures (the clip was animated by RMIT teacher Gina Moore, with help from students Jack Cornish and Eddy Faulkner) of a man walking through hills and fields, surrounded by Australian wildlife. The experimental song highlights Kevin Mitchell’s lighter vocal range as the band plays with brand-new melodies. It’s indie rock catered for a 2023 audience – check out the music video below.

“This one came about by accident. Whilst setting up a guitar for overdubbing, we accidentally recorded the sound of it with really loose strings. This sound was turned into a loop and became the bedrock of a new song; a sort of weird melodic, rhythmic loop track,” Mitchell said about the new track made alongside collaborator and honorary fifth Jebediah member, Dave Parkin (Spacey Jane, Red Jezabel).

He continued, “The whole thing was built on top of that. It reflects an experimentalism in the studio that we have not really embraced before, and so it sounds different to anything we've ever written or recorded before.”

Moore said, “I loved Rubberman as soon as I heard it and listened to it many times while walking my dog.” After playing the song continuously, Moore came up with a storyboard in hours. “Like the song, I wanted the video to be evocative or experiential and wasn’t concerned with having a definitive meaning or narrative. The song lends itself to a journey, a figure walking through a landscape.

“I wanted the mood to start tranquil and get increasingly chaotic as invisible forces become evident (deforming the landscape and producing colourful ribbons). I wanted it to feel Australian and to allude to global concerns, including the proliferation of plastics in the environment. Although addressing dark and depressing themes, the clip needed to be visually appealing.”

Oiks, the follow-up to 2011’s Kosciuszko, will be released on Friday, 12 April. Pre-orders are now live via the Cooking Vinyl Australia website.

In September, Jebediah returned with their first new single in over a decade, Gum Up The Bearings, and announced a national tour, which wraps up on Friday, 17 November, in Perth. Before that gig, though, Jebediah will be inducted into the WAM Hall of Fame tomorrow night.

Fans can also watch Jebediah rock the stages at Good Things Festival this December alongside the likes of Fall Out Boy, Limp Bizkit, Devo, Corey Taylor, Eskimo Joe, PVRIS and many more.

JEBEDIAH

2023 AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Friday 17 November – Boorloo/Perth, The Rechabite
Friday 1 December – Naarm/Melbourne, Good Things Festival
Saturday 2 December – Eora/Sydney, Good Things Festival
Sunday 3 December – Meanjin/Brisbane, Good Things Festival

Tickets: jebediah.net