The Makarrata Project - 2021 European Sony Music label 7-track LP

Seems so fitting that Midnight Oil which always has been synonymous with environmental activism and humanitarianism is spearheading the collaborative Makarrata album... Midnight Oils first album in  18 years.

Makarratais a Yolngu word or philosofical term meaning "a coming together after a struggle" and is used here as the lens which the relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities can be viewed or coexist through. The Guardians Bernard Zuels gives a track by track musical introduction in his 2020 review: "... gospel-folk over a piano rumination (Change The Date), winsome atmosphere (Terror Australia) and back-porch balladry (Desert Man, Desert Woman) to brass-punching, rattling rock (Gadigal Land), tense-but-rhythmic groove (First Nation), outright pop (Come On Down) and sunset acoustic sway (Wind In My Head). In them, Midnight Oil’s main songwriters, Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie and Peter Garrett, express anger and frustration, hope and connection – historical and contemporary." This is as such sheer musical poety - cross over pop and rock with beautiful Indigenous Aboriginal voices.

Collaborators features a wide cross section of prominent First Nations' artists; from Jessica Mauboy, Alice Skye and Tasman Keith through established talents such as Leah Flanagan and Troy Cassar-Daley to revered elders Kev Carmody, Sammy Butcher and Frank Yamma....especially Gurrumul and Dan Sultans Change The Date is a standout track.

Yellow coloured vinyl edition. Includes a map depicting tribal/language groups of Aboriginal Australia on a single-sided 12-inch insert, plus a double-sided inner sleeve with credits and song lyrics - picture cover..

Tracklisting:

Side 1:
1 Midnight Oil Featuring Jessica Mauboy & Tasman Keith - First Nation    
2 Midnight Oil Featuring Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs & Bunna Lawrie - Gadigal Land    
3 Midnight Oil Featuring Gurrumul Yunupingu & Dan Sultan - Change The Date    
4 Midnight Oil Featuring Alice Skye - Terror Australia    

Side 2:
1 Midnight Oil Featuring Frank Yamma - Desert Man, Desert Woman    
2 Midnight Oil Featuring Kev Carmody & Sammy Butcher - Wind In My Head (Makarrata Version)    
3.1 Pat Anderson, Stan Grant, Adam Goodes, Ursula Yovich & Troy Cassar-Daley - Uluru Statement From The Heart    
3.2 Midnight Oil Featuring Troy Cassar-Daley - Come On Down