ABOUT

Maybe more than any of his previous albums, Xavier Rudd’s Dark Shades of Blue is a balance of darkness and light. That’s what the Australian singer-songwriter/one-man band/didgeridoo virtuoso hears in the disc.
Plenty of each went into making the disc. Dark Shades of Blue is the first Rudd album in several years to be recorded in Australia. As a result, it bears the joy and peace of mind that comes with an often-touring artist that gets a chance to catch his breath.

Produced by Rudd and mixed by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age), Dark Shades of Blue finds Rudd at his most assertive, heavy and psychedelic. Dusky and cool, the disc’s guitar-driven jams expand on a sound only hinted at on previous releases, as distortion often supplants the pretty jangly guitars heard on earlier work, like 2007’s White Moth. While Rudd’s signature didgeridoo remains, along with the myriad of instruments and voices featured on other records, the results are less “world music” than they are the makings of a truly global record. The disc’s opener, “Black Water” emerges from a “Voodoo Chile”-like beginning, before rising and falling like a mighty sonic wave. The title track is equal parts tempered, fuzzed-out funk, unrestrained Ben Harper and Tool-ish swirls of a groove threatening to explode. There’s tension, yes, but also lonely beauty in songs like “Shiver.”

A bona fide star in Australia, Rudd grew up in Bell’s Beach in Southern Victoria, notable for its cameo in the memorable surf film Point Break. Reared in a music-friendly environment, where his parents spun records by the likes of Neil Young and Paul Simon.

In 2002, Rudd released his debut album in Australia, To Let, which was followed by Solace and in 2004 by Food in the Belly, his debut for Anti-. In his own country, he’s collected a string of gold and platinum sales awards for his albums and DVDs. Over the past five years, his popularity has ballooned in the U.S., where he has amassed a burgeoning grass-roots fanbase and the admiration of the likes of Ani DiFranco and Jack Johnson, while hitting many of the country’s top festivals, like Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot and Austin City Limits Festival.

The past few years have been a whirlwind for the singer. In between sold-out tours in Europe, Australia and the U.S., he’s supported the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, and has been working on the film score for fellow-surfer and Rudd-enthusiast Matthew McConaughey’s Surfer Dude, co-starring Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson. In the meantime, he’s earned a reputation as a great Australian activist, advocating for indigenous rights and environmental responsibility.

Apart from the touring and activism, recording proves a challenge. “What I do, musically, is not something that people know much about,” he says. “It’s kind of its own thing. So every time we go in to record, we learn new ways to approach it, to capture the right sound. There’s a lot of spill in the different mics, and a lot of factors to consider. So with each recording, we’ve learned different ways to approach it. On White Moth, I opened the door for the possibilities in the studio, and got a vibe for what I could do. On Dark Shades of Blue, I think we captured what we do live, the thickness of it, the tone. I think we finally achieved what I’ve always wanted to hear on my recordings”.