The Voice Of Flinders Station, Laurence Hewson moonlights as the voice of…
SORDID ORDEAL
Launch New Single, Black Straps
Debut Album, When I Left Town, Out Feb 16
Gooooood morning and welcome to Flinders Street Station…
Over the last couple of months Melbourne commuters have become familiar with that phrase accompanied by some brilliant musings from Flinders Street platform announcer Laurence Hewson. His feel good public addresses have become the stuff of legend and went viral just before Xmas with Laurence being interviewed on the ABC, Sunrise, 9 News, The Herald Sun, The Age, SBS and many more.
Not just an end of year fad, the Voice Of Flinders Station has continued into 2024 unabated and more popular than ever with people coming in on inter city trains across Victoria and beyond just so they can hear Laurence and make their day that much better.
While he may brightens peoples days on the platform, Laurence also rocks them by night as the frontman for Melbourne, (Naarm), rockers Sordid Ordeal.
At the height of the pandemic Sordid Ordeal released the killer tune, Great Ocean Road, who’s refrain ‘I wanna get the f*ck outta Melbourne’ was felt deep in the core of everyone trapped in their houses across the city and indeed nationwide. It was a literal lockdown anthem that was instantly relatable.
A succession of singles followed, namely Citizen & A Purely Genetic Connection in 2022 and Confession in 2023; all the while the band toured their asses off while putting the finishing touches on on their soon to be released gargantuan debut album, “When I Left Town” which is finally being released on February 16!
Black Straps is the final single to be released ahead of the album.
With its giant, meandering riff and foot stomping fuzz, Black Straps is about leaving behind country nightlife and the culture shock of being thrown in the deep end of Melbourne’s bar scene in the late 2000’s
At just 2 minutes and 37 seconds, it packs a hefty punch and harks back to the glory days of Aus Rock with its’ influences from early AC/DC, Skyhooks and The Saints.
Listen to Black Straps HERE
Sordid Ordeal’s highly anticipated debut album ‘When I Left Town’ is the first of a two-part coming-of-age story. Based semi-autobiographically on frontman Laurence Hewson’s move from the country to the city, it traces it’s way from Wagga Station in the NSW Riverina, down the Main Southern Line and over the Victorian border to the concrete canyons and dark alleyways of Melbourne.
Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Howard and Rudd-era Australia, the story reflects on a sheltered teenager, ravenous and insatiable, leaving behind a family and religion, searching for identity in a city bursting with colour. Recorded and produced over 5 years the record features a 12-piece choir, a brass ensemble, a string quintet and a Celtic band.
When I Left Town will be released on February 16
Pre orders are available now HERE
Details for the Album Launch Show will be revealed soon
ABOUT SORDID ORDEAL
Sordid Ordeal effortlessly combine folk story-telling and ballads with blistering, mangy rock and epic anthems. Formed in 2010 they took up residence on Sydney Road in Brunswick for 8 years playing punk shows, drinking beers and making a mess of a few bars and of themselves. In 2018 they pulled themselves together and began the monumental task of creating their debut album, When I Left Town.
Leaving behind a conventional punk sound, the band is now a tour-de-force, roaming the country in a Ford Falcon station wagon, tearing up pubs and playing an explosive combination of battle cries, rock, blues and folk. Having recruited experienced musicians from The Ramshackle Army, The Bottlers, The Ugly Kings, Winter Moon and Decadence of Cain, Sordid Ordeal is now a potent sonic machine.
Follow Sordid Ordeal Online:
Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
