Country-tinged, Indie-rock Artist Ricky Albeck Unveils His Debut LP Nocturnal + East Coast Album Launch Shows

Adelaide country-tinged indie-rock act Ricky Albeck's highly-anticipated debut album, Nocturnal, is out today, independently. To celebrate the release of Nocturnal, Ricky Albeck and the Belair Line Band will play four headline shows across Australia's east coast this winter.

The son of country music royalty Beccy Cole and acclaimed fiddler Mick Albeck, Ricky Albeck launched into the music scene when he was just 19 years old with his debut EP Lovely Bones. The EP was followed by a string of singles, including ‘It’s Normal’, released as a 7” split single with rising Awabakal land/Newcastle group dust.

Unpretentious yet studied, Albeck's distinctive “post pub-rock” sound quickly caught the attention of tastemakers at triple j, Pilerats, Rolling Stone, Raven Sings the Blues and ToneDeaf among others, with airplay across national and community radio stations – including rotation adds on ABC Country, plus placement on Apple Music’s Southern Craft and Aussie Country editorial playlists. Live, Albeck has toured his music across small-towns and big cities nationally, supporting much-loved acts including Amyl & the Sniffers, The Growlers, Pist Idiots, West Thebarton, Wireheads and Workhorse.

The eight tracks that make up Albeck’s debut album, Nocturnal, were written over five years, then self-recorded and produced by Albeck at Adelaide’s Interim Studios. The album features bass, drums, pedal steel, strings, fiddle, percussion, piano and glockenspiel performed by an array of top-shelf local musicians, as well as Nashville pedal steel player Patrick Lyons (Colter Wall).

From lead single ‘Insignificant Favours’ to lush and contemplative cut, ‘It Goes…’, and happy-go-lucky indie-rock hit ‘Get Me Outta Here’, Nocturnal is a colourfully arranged record exploring themes of friendship, love, and the banality of small-town life.

Ricky shares of his debut LP, “[Nocturnal] represents a whole lot of learning for me. I self-produced it, and every song is produced differently. In some ways, you can really tell I’m just finding my feet, but I also think it’s really interesting noting the different production choices made across different tracks. It also represents learning in terms of songwriting. Songs like ‘She Wasn’t Anyone’, I wrote about five years back, while ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Insignificant Favours’ were written more recently. I think you can tell those ones are more “to the point” than vague and open to interpretation.”

He continues, “The songs represent a really important time in my life because I spent so much time with them. I was living in Adelaide, recording at Interim Studios in the city, dipping out every couple of nights to play a gig. Colby, who co-owns the studio, entrusted me with keys to the joint, so I would work until 7am if I was on a roll, sleep for a few hours and start again. It’s a very manic way to do things, but I think it works for me.”

Nocturnal is out now, independently. Stay up to date with new music, announcements and shows by following Ricky Albeck on Instagram, Facebook and Bandcamp.

© Scoop Media