Description
Winter McQuinn’s third record “Where Are We Now?” (out September 19th via Third Eye Stimuli Records & Born Losers) is the Melbourne/Naarm psych-folk and soft rock purveyor's most ambitious, collaborative and pop-leaning effort yet. Led by McQuinn, the 9 track album features co-writing and recording sessions with the likes of Dylan Young (Way Dynamic), Feign Jima, Hot Apple Band, Shelby De Fazio (Bad Bangs), Chet Sounds, Acacia Coates, GFS and Rudy Polacheck. The album continues the introspective and environmentally conscious lyricism that McQuinn has become known for, where he digs a little deeper inwards and ponders our existence and what it means to live a fulfilling life on this earth. McQuinn asks us to pause and consider; where are we heading?
Winter McQuinn recorded almost all of the record from his home studio in Northcote, Melbourne/Naarm. It was pieced together over two years (2023-2024) with McQuinn writing the bones of the instrumentals and then bringing in artists to write the vocals and melody together. Each song features a different vocalist, with McQuinn taking lead vocals on just two songs and it was also the first time that McQuinn wrote songs entirely on piano, which brought a new style to his songwriting. Mixed by Dylan Young (Way Dynamic, Cool Sounds, Good Morning) and Snowy (Good Morning, Snowy Band), the production is top tier and emphasises the warm, nostalgic pop tones of the album perfectly.
With McQuinn citing Carole King and Nick Drake as major influences on his work, his third record weaves vibrant soft rock, folk, country and psychedelic pop akin to contemporaries Kate Bollinger, Drugdealer and Alex Izenberg.
Where Winter McQuinn’s acclaimed 2024 record ‘Move To The Trees’ saw him bring together friends from Hot Apple Band and Sunfruits to perform the songs live in the studio, Where Are We Now? takes his collaborative nature to another level, breathing even more musical diversity and life into his songs. McQuinn wanted to bring together musicians he respects deeply and feels akin to stylistically, as he explains; “I wanted to do a project that involved a lot of the talented musicians and songwriters in my local community. It allowed me to follow any song direction or idea I had in mind and bounce ideas off of great musicians I’ve always wanted to work with.”
“Where Are We Now?” is a normal question to ask in a geographical sense, but when we tip into the philosophical world, we open a can of worms — a can that McQuinn is never afraid to open. His music is always pushing us to stop and think, to take a breath, to consider what we are doing, to be mindful of who we are as individuals, as a collective and where our future is heading. McQuinn explains; “on this record, the lyrics zoom in on a kind of introspective nature and ask questions or offer potential answers on what we actually need to be content in our lives and what that means to different people. There's also a lyrical focus on shared anxiety that I and a lot other people feel at the moment under this kind of environmental, neo fascist slow collapse. In that way it's definitely connected conceptually to my past two records (Move To The Trees, A Rabble Of Bees), but I think lyrically there's a lot more personal lines and it's a bit more pessimistic compared to my previous work .”
There’s a darkness within the songs but there’s always light too, with this record being focused around the idea of bringing like-minded people together, cherishing friendships and supporting musicians, to create something tangible and important, such as art. It’s through sharing ideas and creating together, that McQuinn and friends help weather the societal and digital shitstorm together.