WILDFIRE MANWURRK, the band from remote Stone Country, Arnhem Land, introduce their debut EP with a new single, Lonely Bangardi.
WILDFIRE MANURRK enriches their new track, Lonley Bangardi with ’80s garage rock anthem strums and pounds. It is beautifully sung in age-old endangered languages, Kune, Dalabon and Rembarrnga. The Rostron family is depicted through this track and music video ,and is melded with the beauty and soul of one of the most fascinating regions in the world, remote Stone Country.
To start the track, an untamed riff lets loose, begging to bellow out of the garage, and drags you into the heartache of Sires Rostron, hooking you instantly. The music video has the band hanging out of the car windows as they drive through their hometown. The lads pass by familiar faces of their community, and the ’80s-infused riff trails behind the vehicle, with the same urgency as the bass line of Midnight Oil’s Power and the Passion. It’s only steps behind and is catching right up to them eagerly. The pounding cadence of Sires’ voice is layered in an amplified choir-like resonance as the riff soaks through and leaks out, perfectly intertwining itself around his voice. It would be incredible to hear his voice soar through a stadium, but even more amazing to sit on the land of Stone Country and witness them dance on Arnhem land.
The visual accompaniment to the power anthem that this song is captured by Robert Sherwood and directed by Natalie Carey. They collaborated together to convey the bond that the boys feel towards their land. Sires was feeling isolated and deserted in his solitude, after having his heart broken, but he gazed out at Country and it looked back at him, inspiring him to write Lonley Bangardi. Through wide shots of driving or performing on the vast orange land contrasted with the intimate close shots of family and community, utterly soul-touching heartbreak is displayed across the song.
“I thought, I’m gonna get up and make this song, ‘Lonely Bangardi’ about myself and how I feel. And I thought, oh yeah, I’ll make Lonely Bangardi into a Rock n Roll song,” Sires says on his journey with the song.
During the music video, their car breaks down amongst the gripping guitar interlude, just before the chorus comes rolling through. A montage between a mate helping them fix it and them rocking out on their instruments on Country revs us up for the fuelled chorus. The earworm melody and vigorously repeated lyrics ‘Lonley Bangardi’ bombard viewers with the image of the lads performing on their land, as some members of their community watch. Smokey air floats through the gunfire of noise as little fires blaze on the land.
The gap between Sires’ loneliness and the connection he is aching for is bridged through the second verse, where a quick break from the intense guitar and the slow-motion movements of the silhouettes against the deep orange fire flickers in the dark. The next shot of their mob chanting and dancing on their cars, solidifies leaving loneliness and heartbreak behind and being with community and country.
Sires is handed the guitar in front of his clan so he can shred it with ferocious energy before the resurrection of the chorus line appears. The filthy thumping guitar solo melts through the ending of the song as their family dance and connect. Lonely Bangardi declares itself in this call-and-response attitude that is too infectious to stop listening to.
It’s got that grit of classic ’80s Aussie rock bands like The Angels, but it crosses the boundaries of classic rock being just for pubs through its rhythmically charged rock and roll sound and its deeply personal connection to Arnhem Land.
“We have a story to tell and this is our voice, in our language, one of the oldest languages in this world. That language will help you connect to where you are standing. It will help us come together, where we learn from each other,” Victor Rostron, Lead Singer, Didgeridoo and Clapsticks player cheers.
The track will feature on their debut EP, The Next Future, set to launch on Friday, November 25. It’s engineered by James Boundy (Dune Rats) and co-produced by WILDFIRE MANWURRK, Matt Smith and Natalie Carey. It’ll be a mixture of shredding metallic guitar riffs, traditional song lines from ancestral inspiration and depictions that they face as men in the world of constant change and chaos.
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