AIRBOURNE’s NEW self-titled studio album, out today, September 4th, is a true rock ‘n’ roll tale of no compromise, no sleep and still no ballads (or bullshit); a story fuelled by the riveted will of four musicians, brothers Joel & Ryan O’Keeffe, ably supported by Justin Street & Brett Tyrrell, to create a body of work that proudly offers a full 21 gun salute to hard rock’s glorious traditions, its heritage and its heartbeat, whilst keeping sights firmly trained on the road ahead.
To celebrate the album’s release, the band has dropped their new video for the song ‘Kid in a Candy Store.’
AIRBOURNE’s sixth studio album is the one that plants the flag deepest for everything the Aussie outfit stands for, their unwavering commitment to The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Cause, leaving everything (apart from Lemmy’s Bar, of course) on the stage on a nightly basis.
“When I look up to the sky, rub the blood and sweat from my eyes
Hell, no, I ain’t dead yet, as long as I can breathe, I can get…” ‘Gutsy’
PRODUCED BY Brian Howes (who helmed 2013’s ‘Black Dog Barking’); engineered by Mike Fraser (who worked on 2010’s ‘No Guts. No Glory’ & 2016’s ‘Breakin’ Outta Hell’); mixed by Zakk Cervini (BMTH, Architects, Evanescence); and mastered by the legendary Ted Jensen, ‘Airbourne’ The Album is the statement, line in the sand recording that only one band could have made.
For staunch sons of Warrnambool, Joel & Ryan, here was the moment: to create not just the finest body of work in the Airbourne canon, but to raise the bar as high as possible in the name of the hard rock community; to seek out new turf, to protect the ground hard won by heroes past, some sadly fallen, and to both strengthen and celebrate the special, sacred bond with rock fans everywhere…
“Our aim from the start was to create something iconic, gargantuan,” states vocalist / guitarist Joel, “real blockbuster shit. It’s a rocket we’ve been building and building; we’ve filled it with fuel, now we’re ready to let it go.”
“We said, this is it, let’s make the oracle,” continues drummer Ryan, “and if we’re going to do it, no corner can be cut. All of the things we love most about rock‘n’roll are on this record. I firmly believe it’s our very best work…”
In order to embrace the mighty task, AIRBOURNE felt it wise to stay close to home, with Music Farm Studio in the “jungle” outside Byron Bay, South Eastern Australia, the chosen locale; not only does Music Farm host the original Neve console from Albert Studios in Sydney, the desk on which AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and The Angels recorded their classic early albums, but it’s also home to late AC/DC guitarist / founding member Malcolm Young’s eight-track Neve, and naturally both were put to full an’ fruitful use on the
AIRBOURNE sessions.
By choosing vintage gear (and recording to tape), these sessions were never going to be gremlin free, but as things turned out, technical issues were just a part of the story, with near cyclonic storms, deadly snakes and even deadlier super sized spiders (the fabled Big Boy!) adding to the list of perils. They say what doesn’t kill (or bite) you makes you stronger, and for musicians and studio team alike the overriding vision never blurred; nights around the fire pit were spent talking about the big, bold, bombastic albums they’d skipped their homework to listen to; those layered, beautifully crafted records, the recognised classics, that had made them rock fans in the first place…
Next stop, Hothouse Studios in Melbourne; here, all recording was completed alongside engineer / studio owner, Craig Harnath. Rounding things off at Hothouse was an easy choice to make; not only was it where the band had recorded their first EP, but the console, also a Neve, is from Alberts Studio 2, allowing the connection to prime rock history to be maintained.
The challenge was there. The game on. Get Gutsy or go home.
“I’m fired up, I’m pissed off, Here I come, ready or not” ‘Gutsy’
ONLY RIGHT, therefore, that the first new song to appear was ‘Gutsy’ itself, a chipped tooth, broken bone anthem with no reverse gear; then came ‘Christmas Bonus’ (“Ho,ho,ho, let’s go!”), then ‘Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)’, an official No. 1 at German Rock Radio, then ‘Kid In A Candy Store’, a rite of passage rocker in the spirit of AC/DC’s ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’; for the accompanying video, just released, director P.R. Brown cut together real and imagined footage to document both the recording process at Music Farm and the potentially lethal antics of the local wildlife… you might call it a case of advanced A-rock-nophobia!
Add in the talents of producer Brian Howes (who helmed 2013’s ‘Black Dog Barking’ for AIRBOURNE), engineer Mike Fraser (who worked on 2010’s ‘No Guts. No Glory’ & 2016’s ‘Breakin’ Outta Hell’), mixing engineer Zakk Cervini (BMTH, Architects, Evanescence) and mastering legend Ted Jensen, and you have a track – Single 5 from the forthcoming self-titled studio album, out September 4th via Spinefarm – that manages to both box and charm the ears at the same time.
First there was do-or-die anthem ‘Gutsy’, then ‘Christmas Bonus’ (“Ho-ho-ho – let’s go!”), then ‘Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)’, officially No. 1 at German Rock Radio, and most recently ‘Kid In A Candy Store’, a rite-of-passage rocker in the spirit of AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie“; and now, blowing in hard on a festival-ready chorus and enough full-blooded ‘woahs’ to lift an arena roof or part the lower clouds, there’s ‘Here She Comes’, complete with guitar solo cranked high in the mix for maximum shoulder-straddling impact.
Lyrics like, “Here she comes, raising a hurricane, there she goes blowing my mind” might sound like they’re about one of vocalist/guitarist Joel O’Keeffe’s favourite subjects, women – which, to be fair, they are – but they also nod to the tropical storm that bore down on Music Farm Studio in Byron Bay, south-eastern Australia, as AIRBOURNE were recording, adding to a list of tribulations topped up by dangerous, potentially lethal wild-life and uncooperative vintage gear.
“It was like a hurricane came through,” recalls drummer Ryan O’Keeffe. “I remember screaming, ‘Get away from the windows!’ Streetie [bassist Justin Street] was sleeping in an old bus outside the studio, and a tree fell right next to it and almost crushed him!”
Adds brother Joel: “That’s how the song came about. It’s just out of this storm that blew in. Everyone was sitting there going, ‘Here she comes!’ Then we flipped it, and it became a bit of a double entendre. It’s so much fun.”
Order the album: https://airbourne.lnk.to/Airbourne
‘Airbourne’ Track List:
1. Gutsy
2. Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)
3. Here She Comes
4. Kid In A Candy Store
5. Sky High
6. Who Put The Rhythm In You?
7. Christmas Bonus
8. Last Man Standing
9. Rock ‘N’ Roll Ya
10. Bogotá
11. Hells Got No Vacancy
12. Send Me To Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven
‘Here She Comes’, one of the two Lange / Adams co-writes, the other being ‘Who Put The Rhythm In You?’, followed in late July, which brings us on a mighty wall of Eddie Van Halen inspired feedback to album focus track, ‘Bogotá’, complete with lashings of EVH ‘Frankenstein’ action, the first time Joel had wielded the instrument!
It’s surely impossible to be a guitarist and not realise the significance of EVH, who (along with Lemmy, Doc Neeson, John Bonham, Bon Scott, Little Richard, Malcolm Young & Ozzy) gets a hand on heart namecheck on album closer, ‘Send Me To Rock‘N’Roll Heaven’, the song that most clearly defines the album’s key themes of lifestyle and legacy; of artists being kept alive in the hearts and minds of fans; of the rock ‘n’ roll torch being passed from one generation to the next, the flame still burning…
‘When you play this riff, you give me back my hands
When you drop the needle, I’m back in the band…’ ‘Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)’
‘AIRBOURNE’. Made with passion. Made in Australia. The Great Barrier Riff.
Now officially out of its cage.
AIRBOURNE Shows with Guns N’ Roses, November / December 2026.
11/29: Adelaide, AU
12/2 Townsville, AU
12/5 Brisbane, AU
12/8 Newcastle, AU
12/11 Melbourne, AU
12/14 Sydney, AU
12/17 Auckland, NZ
