Australian singer/composer Jack Colwell’s vivid debut album, SWANDREAM, (best albums NME and Junkee 2020) is a raw and uncompromising collection that marks the arrival on the world stage of a distinctive new voice.
Recorded in Sydney and produced by renowned singer Sarah Blasko, SWANDREAM paints a captivating picture of a young queer man contending with identity, heartbreak and historical abuse. The songs are informed by Colwell’s classical training at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, his love of confessional singer-songwriters, and his infatuation with fairy tales and myths.
Born and raised in the suffocating suburbs of far-northern Sydney, Colwell took up music at the urging of his mother, growing into a confident multi-instrumentalist before storming the halls of the prestigious Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In 2015, his debut EP spawned the sleeper hit “Don’t Cry Those Tears”, grabbing attention from Rolling Stone Australia and The Guardian, which attracted significant radio play and led to a remix by US noise-rockers HEALTH. Extensive domestic touring and LGBT advocacy followed, and Jack soon became one of Australia’s most prominent independent artists.
Colwell has toured, worked and shared stages with Patrick Wolf, Owen Pallett, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Architecture in Helsinki, Killing Heidi, The Avalanches and Robin Guthrie of The Cocteau Twins.
Instagram @jvckcolwell
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