Brad Treeby & the Simplists - Wake Your Soul

Wake Your Soul Cover
1. Wake Your Soul (3:42)
2. Paper Junkie (3:23)
3. Sunday Living (4:00)
4. The Palm of her Hand (3:25)

» Download all tracks (20.2 MB)
» Read lyrics
Artists:
Brad Treeby (guitar / vocals)
Rohan Irvin (bass guitar)
Petrie (beatbox)

Liner Notes:
© 2008 Brad Treeby and the Simplists | All songs by Brad Treeby | Recorded at the Banksia Terrace, Perth, Western Australia | Engineered by Brad Treeby and Rohan Irvin | Mixed and mastered by Shaun O'Callaghan at Studio Couch | Produced by Brad Treeby | Cover artwork by Petrie | Released in Australia by Canopy Records and Green Media Distribution

About:
"Wake your soul" was the first solo release for Australian musician Brad Treeby and his revolving band the Simplists. The disc features four vibrant tracks, including Wake Your Soul, a commentary on the inability of policy makers to reconsider or take responsibility for deficient agendas, and Paper Junkie, a censure on the current use of the world's resources. Similar themes appear recurrently throughout the Simplists music, but the lyrics remain cognisant rather than pretentious, observant rather than prescriptive.

The concept for the arrangements for the project was spawned almost a year before its realisation. "I wanted to create something raw and organic," muses Treeby; a requisite that initiated a search for beatboxers ending in Petrie. The connection was immediate; Petrie's unique style and beatboxing ability completing the trio formed with long time collaborator Rohan Irvin on bass guitar. The EP was recorded during the first half of 2008 in an old house in suburban Perth, with the engineering duties shared between Treeby and Irvin. Mixing and mastering was left to the capable hands of Shaun O'Callaghan from Studio Couch (John Butler Trio/Gyroscope).The disk is an independent release through Canopy Records, and distributed in Australia by Green Media Distribution.

Reviews:
"How could you not be drawn into this one? I daresay he would be best described as Australia’s own Jason Mraz."   Alyssar Helweh, Trespass Magazine, 2nd February 2009

"I love people being brave enough to experiment and to stray from the norm."   Kylie Cox, The Dwarf, 20th February 2009

"In a similar vein to Jack Johnson’s surf-folk, Treeby’s four green-themed tracks on Wake Your Soul move along well and have strong choruses; in a nutshell, these tracks make for ideal sundowner music... The beatboxing that propels these acoustic tunes is the right novelty (some might claim innovation) to separate Treeby from a huge pack of guitar-strumming beach and forest troubadours."   Jeff Walker, Merredin Wheatbelt Mercury, 4th March 2009

"Brad's almost scat-like semi-raps over expertly played rock-funk riffs showed him to be a musician with some unconventional style."   Dave Knight, Alt Sounds (Live review, Portobello Acoustic Sessions), 13th August 2009