Having just released his sixteenth studio album, Australian icon Diesel has announced a special run of shows in 2024, with the Forever Tour set to kick off in January next year celebrating Diesel’s brand new outing, the multifaceted masterpiece Bootleg Melancholy.
SAT 13 JAN 24 | AVOCA BEACH THEATRE, AVOCA BEACH NSW
SAT 24 FEB | DUNSTAN PLAYHOUSE, FESTIVAL CENTRE, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 01 MAR | ATHENAEUM THEATRE, MELBOURNE VIC
FRI 22 MAR | REGAL THEATRE SUBIACO, PERTH WA
SAT 23 MAR | HEART THEATRE, MARGARET RIVER WA
FRI 12 APR | SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 13 APR | THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE QLD
All of the myriad talents of Diesel’s musical abilities coalesce on Bootleg Melancholy, an unabashedly exuberant 14-track LP that is at once the most diverse and most cohesive album Diesel has recorded to date. Loaded with hooks, these songs greet with the warmth and familiarity of a good friend, songs about family, mortality, childhood, and dreams. Travelling across time, place, and memory, this is rousing yet reflective pop music that celebrates the joys of everyday life while braving the difficult stuff – the challenges we all eventually face – with insights and tenderness.
Featuring the single ‘Forever’, the listener is going to take from Bootleg Melancholy what they best need, whether the pop rush of an infectious chorus, the reassurances of a heartening lyric sung with Diesel’s trademark soulfulness, or the satisfying interjection of some exhilarating solos on vintage guitars. And for Diesel, this album finally feels like a return to some form of normality after the previous few years and releases, as he explains, “After recording and releasing two albums in a pandemic, it feels great to be releasing this new album! I’m not sure what normal is, but it feels great to be still doing this with others around me. It’s always inspiring for me to see the excitement of people, especially as the recording process starts out as very insular, in this case a one-man journey. It’s always a challenge to put into words what something sounds like, but I feel like there are a lot of influences going on, probably more than any record I’ve made but somehow it feels the most cohesive at the same time.”
Spending the pandemic years revisiting artists like TLC, Elliot Smith, Leon Bridges, Khruangbin and Angel Olsen, Diesel also dove deep into guitar sounds and the first three Prince albums as he worked towards new material amidst a backdrop of extreme uncertainty. Recording, mixing and mastering his latest album entirely on his own, with drummer Lee Moloney appearing on some of the tracks and Bernie Bremond on saxophone for ‘Never Giving Up’, Bootleg Melancholy is as much an exercise in catharsis and joy as it is a snapshot of Diesel’s own personal journey; a reflection on places past tread during a time when travel seemed a distant memory, as Diesel reveals, “I would describe this album as almost a travel log recall of all the places I’ve been or lived in, I kind of had to as we weren’t going anywhere! There are also a lot of bright sounding songs with quite close to the bone lyrics, I like to have that juxtaposition.”
One of Australia’s greatest success stories, the American-born Diesel, aka Mark Lizotte, has spent three decades weaving an effortlessly magic musical touch into his rock and blues-fuelled sounds, both as part of the band Johnny Diesel & The Injectors and, more recently, as a solo artist. With multiple #1 ARIA charting albums under his belt, six ARIA award wins and millions of streams alongside a legion of fans, Diesel’s creative skillset also expands beyond his own projects, with the talented artist also renowned for his work as a producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Now set to wow fans once again with his new album Bootleg Melancholy this week, Diesel is definitely not slowing down as 2023 draws to a close, with his extensive national tour in early 2024 marking just the beginning of another exceptional year for this creative powerhouse. “It’s always exciting bringing a song into the live realm,” shares Diesel of the upcoming 2024 Australian tour. “A lot of times I want to record it again after touring it! It’s also like bringing new friends into the fold with old friends. And I’m most excited to feel the reaction from the audience with the new songs, it’s always a ‘butterflies in the stomach’ kind of feeling – but I thrive on that.”