Anthony Albanese trades the Hillsong and gospel music of his predecessor with a stellar list of all-time favourite musicians.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed his all-time favourite musicians, with bands The Triffids and The Fauves and singer Bruce Springsteen topping the list. Albanese spoke on his affinity for music during an interview with ABC Melbourne last night (December 18), during which he recalled his favourite music memories, and mentioned a few of his favourite Australian artists.
Addressing the latter topic, Albanese recounted one of his first-ever live concerts, citing a 1970s AC/DC gig he attended in Sydney as a young boy. Fellow Australian band The Triffids was also name-dropped by the Prime Minister, who described the group’s 1986 song Wide Open Road as “one of the great Australian songs.” Albanese said The Triffids track is a “driving song, a road song [for] long trips,” and recalled listening to it on repeat when travelling with his then-girlfriend to see the band live in Perth.
Rivalling The Triffids on Albanese’s playlist was Victorian band The Fauves, whose 1996 song Dogs Are The Best People was also among the PM’s favourites. Albanese said the track reminded him of his own dog Toto, and spoke of the animals being a warm booster during tough times in politics. Finalising the list was none other than The Boss himself, with Albanese citing Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run as his final favourite.
The politician recalled listening to the 1975 Springsteen track while backpacking across Africa and Europe, and spoke on the legendary musician’s songwriting. “[Springsteen’s] lyrics have examined the American condition and they’ve looked at issues of racism, issues of equality,” Albanese said. He went on to discuss the music tastes of his son, Nathan, admitting he was initially sceptical of his playlists.
However, it was when Albanese saw Nathan wearing a Talking Heads shirt that he thought “wow, I’ve been a good father.” Elsewhere in the interview, Albanese discussed the political implications of music, citing artists like Midnight Oil, Violent Femmes, The Clash and Billy Bragg as evidence that “hard right-wing governments… end up resulting in good music.” The interview marks the latest display of Albanese as somewhat of a virtuoso.
Last month, the PM — who is himself a DJ hobbyist — invited Australian bands Amyl and the Sniffers and Lime Cordiale to parliament house, where he posed for pictures with the artists and was gifted with vinyl copies of their respective albums. Before that, he shared his favourite vinyl albums with Jacinda Arden, gifting the New Zealand Prime Minister with Australian favourites like Midnight Oil, Spiderbait and Powderfinger.
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Elsewhere, in a move that warranted a place on Happy Mag‘s biggest pop culture moments this year, Albanese was seen chugging a beer at a Gang Of Youths concert at Enmore Theatre in August. All of this points to the fact that Albanese more than compensates for the Hill Song and gospel hymn playlists of his predecessor.
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