The Black Seeds To Release 20th Anniversary Vinyl

The Black Seeds are thrilled to announce that their classic album ON THE SUN will be available on vinyl for the first time ever, with a limited drop on November 29.

The upcoming vinyl release and digital re-release marks the 20th anniversary of ON THE SUN and to celebrate the occasion, the band have revealed an unreleased track from the album, ‘Rogan Josh’, which is included on the vinyl and streaming platforms.

The uptight funk cracker ‘Rogan Josh’ was left off the original record but went on to become a firm favourite to play live in the mid 2000’s.

ON THE SUN took Aotearoa’s unique style of roots, reggae, funk n’ soul to the world and put Wellington firmly on the map, while firming up The Black Seeds’ reputation as one of the country’s most celebrated bands.  

The iconic record was originally released in 2004, when a wave of Wellington culture was sweeping across the entertainment world. Elements of funk and soul were infused into The Black Seeds’ established roots-reggae sound and embodied the capital’s cultural golden weather. Going on to reach triple-platinum status, ON THE SUN fired off three memorable singles, which include the band’s biggest hit to date, the quadruple-platinum ‘So True’. 

The accompanying video shot by Gareth Moon captures slices of the ubiquitous New Zealand summer as the trio of Barnaby Weir, Dan Weetman and Bret McKenzie cruise sun-drenched spots in a classic Holden wagon. 

“In terms of memorable music videos, in the land of actual music TV in New Zealand back in 2004, the ‘So True’ video was beautifully filmed by Nektar Films in the Coromandel and really captured a wonderful celebration of that kiwi summer road trip we all long for. It suits the song beautifully and has become a treasured production and vibe for the band over the years,” says Barnaby.  

The Black Seeds also explored their love of funk music on ON THE SUN, with songs like ‘Fire’, ‘You Get Me’ and ‘Bring You Up’. This was combined with some tough and tight reggae/dub expressions like ’Turn It Around’, ‘Tuk Tuk’ and ’Shazzy Dub’. They then added the sweet soul and lovers style reggae rhythms of ’So True’ and ‘Lets Get Down’. Meanwhile, songs like ’Sort It Out’, ‘On The Sun’ and ‘Senegal Champions Of Africa’ brought quirky character to the record and were heavy on the horn section.  

“We had a lot of fun making ON THE SUN with Dr Lee Prebble at the original Surgery Studios in Newtown,” says Barnaby. “We were young and energised and you can hear that in some of the tempos. With the release of ON THE SUN, it really felt like The Black Seeds had arrived.” 

Original bass player, Shannon Williams, adds that he’s “super excited for fans to hear the recorded version of ‘Rogan Josh’. “It started from a disco-ish bass line I had, then everyone added their parts and it became a favourite live tune that we would sometimes jam for 8-9 minutes.  

“It was left off the original album, not because it lacked in quality, but because we already had two instrumentals. I was a bit gutted at the time but stored it away on a hard drive for later. My favourite parts of the tune would have to be Mike Fab/Lord Echo’s alter ego Mark Dangerous and his funky/nasty guitar solo (played through a dying Wah pedal in one take), and of course, Chris O’Connor and Dan going hard on the percussion is nice!”

All 11 original songs on ON THE SUN have been carefully remastered for this format by Mike Gibson, from the original masters by Don Bartley at 301 Sydney way back in 2004, and it comes on two 180gm black vinyl with printed inner sleeves.  

The Black Seeds have also included ‘Koia Ko Koe’ - their 2023 Waiata Anthems te reo Māori version of ‘So True’ - as a bonus track on the album. 

“For those of you buying the album again, tēnā koe!” says the band. “And for the new listeners, nau mai haere mai ki ngā waiata.”

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