Sime Nugent Releases New Single 'The Crow'

Sime Nugent (The Wilson Pickers, Sweet Jean) returns with his first new music in nine years. 'The Crow', out now via Cheersquad Records & Tapes, comes from his forthcoming album, the sixth under his own name.

Sime Nugent is an Australian singer-songwriter-musician, visual artist, furniture designer, and maker who has toured nationally and internationally throughout Australia, Europe, and America and released more than a dozen albums with a range of bands in his 30-year career.

Sime’s work under his own name, with indie folk duo Sweet Jean, and three-time ARIA nominated band The Wilson Pickers, has received both critical and popular acclaim.

Paul Kelly described Sime and Alice Kelly's debut Sweet Jean album as “two distinct voices and strong songwriters make a combination greater than the sum of the parts. Dreamy, epic, wry, tender, straight-shooting. This record deserves to be heard far and wide.”

In recent years Sime has also performed on Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train, the song 'Sleep Australia Sleep', and the legendary Gravy Shows with Paul. With Linda Bull and an all-star band, Sime was part of Stardust – The songs of Willie Nelson – performing Willie’s 1978 classic album around the country.

Sime's most recent focus has been with his band, The Capes, and in-studio with producers Roger Bergodaz and John Castle.

The Capes feature a veritable who's who of the local Melbourne music scene – Roger Bergodaz on drums (Lost Ragas, Tex Perkins), Steve Hesketh on Hammond organ and piano (The Drones, Jet), Zane Lind on bass (Mick Thomas) and Shane Reilly on baritone electric and pedal steel guitars ( Lost Ragas, Man in Black, Emma Donovan).

The first taste of Sime's new album is the simmering, bluesy noir of lead single 'The Crow'. Premiering with Sunburnt Country Music and Off The Record on 3RRR, it's a song that sways along with a haunted twang and hypnotic atmosphere. Electric guitar digs in with distortion and intent, Hesketh's piano providing a beautiful melodic counterpoint. The rhythm section grounds the song with a solid earthiness as Sime's compelling voice, brimming with character, serenades the listener with the all-too-real tale of a nefarious disruptor.

"'The Crow' was written about a would be assassin from another time," explains Sime. "It seemed like an interesting time to release this song. I don't really feel it's my place to wade into those conversations because who needs another person with a microphone? But from an observational point of view, I guess that's what songs can do. They can watch like a Crow."

As Sime's new single once again proves, the strongest through-lines in his music continue to be an enduring engagement with songwriting at its highest level and a truly disarming voice. He brings a level of craftsmanship to everything he does. Sime Nugent travels with an extensive repertoire as a soloist, collaborator, band leader, band member, and songwriter.

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