There was a bit of drama on my social media this week. It's a good example of the weird times we live in but worth reflecting on.

I’m trying to give less of a fuck.

What I mean by that is that I’m trying to resist the temptation to mellow out, to be more conservative, to people please, to worry about how other people perceive me. It’s an obstacle.

I went to the local dawn service last Saturday morning to convey my respect. Redgum’s I Was Only 19 played over the loudspeaker and it occurred to me that most of our oldest vets now, served in Vietnam. Gallipoli, the Western Front in France and Belgium were among the battles mentioned in the ceremony, as well as Greece, Northern Africa and Palestine. Did you know that there are 263 gravestones for Anzacs in Gaza, and that Israel bulldozed the cemetery destroying headstones and burying graves under soil? 

My parents brought me up as a Christian. No other version of reality was possible in my mind. I remember a science teacher in a class at school talking about the theory of evolution and I loudly questioned him - and I should admit it wasn't uncommon for me to be a troublemaker but this was different. The strangest thing happened, though: rather than kick me out, yell at me or send me to the principal, the teacher just got kinda awkward and empathetic, like he felt sorry for me. I was so confused.

When we decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Sun Never Sets with a nashy tour, I knew it'd be a cool chance to perform some deep cuts and switch up the set list for the first time in a decade.

When I see Trump planning on building resorts over the ruins of Gaza and bullying smaller nations, and big tech companies censoring uncontroversial words and perspectives, and billionaires on the rise when there’s so much poverty, I struggle to see how things are going to end well. I know a lot of ppl have a kneejerk cynicism about protesting, but when even democratic societies erode freedoms, its a matter of time until it affects you. It may be Palestine or it may be Deaths in Custody now, but soon it’ll be miners whose industries die or office workers being replaced by AI and automation who are out on the streets.

I left Sydney and moved to Newcastle. Then Elefant Traks ended and I started a new project revolving around the theme of death and rebirth. But as our gloomy news was filled with epstein, mafia presidents, rent rises, job losses, genocide, censorship, rise of nazis and the far right… it all started feeling too heavy to ignore. I switched gears in the studio and started writing about it. It felt cathartic. I went deeper and decided to take more risks and get closer to the edge. I’m not “right” about everything but I’m also not going to die wondering. Some of my new material may get me in trouble with our gov’ts ridiculous new censorship laws. So be it. Let’s go.

That feeling of crashing into christmas.

I hope you’re sitting back with family. Or in the sun. Or with friends. Or in the water.

“More and more he comes to realise that ppl fall into 3 camps: those who hardly, if ever, see beauty, even when it strikes them between the eyes; those who recognise it only when it is made apparent to them; and those rare souls who find beauty everywhere they turn, even in the most unexpected places.” - Elif Shafak