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Expatriate Set Release

01/20/2010
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Australian 4 piece Expatriate finally release their debut album 'In the Midst of This' on 1st March 2010 as well as the first single 'Blackbird' off the record on the same day. Recorded in Seattle USA with producer John Goodmanson (Death Cab For Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, Wu-Tang Clan), 'In The Midst Of This', is awash with big, powerful songs, sonorous melodies, lashing grooves and soaring, aggressive soundscapes.

As lead singer Ben puts it, "We wanted to marry our raw performance as a live band with our ability to amass layers of sound through our tinkering with technology and general studio knowledge; John (Goodmanson) was a great facilitator for bringing out the guitars, drums and volume".

No strangers to moving around, having chosen their band name due to two of the four band members spending their childhoods as expatriates � growing up in a foreign culture, and countries far away from home. Following their recent signing to [PIAS] International, the band relocated to Berlin in Germany to begin their European assault. Starting as they intend to carry on, with appearances at German mega-festivals Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Parc as well as performances at Nova Rock in Austria, Rockwave in Greece, Arras in France, Werchter and Pukkelpop in Belgium, Moon & Stars in Switzerland and Sziget in Hungary. Expatriate's year of change will be spectacularly rounded off as support on Placebo's European Winter arena tour before embarking on their first UK dates in the new year.

Originally released in Australia and New Zealand only, Expatriate's debut album, 'In The Midst of This', catapulted the band into the limelight and huge critical acclaim. The album was nominated for an ARIA Award (Australia's BRITS) for 'Best New Album' and 'Best New Band' and received great support from the influential national alternative radio station Triple J. Subsequently the band toured with Silverchair, Wolfmother, Powderfinger and The Presets, as well as appearing at The Big Day Out and Splendour In The Grass festivals.

'In The Midst of This' cleverly showcases the art of mixing together dark, sinister vocal and musical undertones with huge, instantly memorable, hook laden melodies. 'Get Out, Get In' with its scuzzy velvet underground NYC swagger, the irresistible 'The Space Between' which was featured in the 2008 feature film, 'Yes Man', starring Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel, and 'In the Night', which stakes a serious claim at Kasabians crown for stadium sized space rock. The faultless vocal delivery from King is perfectly complimented by his band mate's sterling musicianship throughout, which gives the album a warm air of big city cool without the feeling of wanting to be something its not. From the driving rhythmic cuts like 'Blackbird' and 'Shooting Star', to the irresistible, 'Document' era-R.E.M. anthemic pop refrain of 'Crazy', the album is a joyous embrace of off kilter, ocean sized and ambitious indie art rock, and not one to be missed.

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