Van Diemen's Land (album)

Van Diemen's Land is a studio album by Australian singer–songwriter Russell Morris. It was released on 11 April 2014 by Fanfare, Ambition Records. The album peaked at number 4 on the ARIA Charts, becoming Morris' highest chart album in his career.^[1]

Van Diemen's Land
Studio album by Russell Morris
Released	11 April 2014 (2014-04-11)
Recorded	2013-14
Genre	Rock music, Blues music, Folk music
Label	Fanfare, Ambition Records
Producer	Mitch Cairns
Russell Morris chronology
The Very Best of Russell Morris (2013) Van Diemen's Land (2014) Red Dirt - Red Heart (2015)

Van Diemen's Land covers great Australian characters and stories including Breaker Morant, Sandakan and Eureka Rebellion and features a host of special guest artists including Joe Camilleri, Rick Springfield, Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil), Scott Owen (The Living End), Ross Hannaford (Daddy Cool), Vika and Linda Bull, Phil Manning (Chain) and Joe Robinson.

Morris said; “Van Diemen’s Land is an album that has been an amazing experience to make. With the success of Sharkmouth, it really let me off my leash so to speak. It showed me that people want music that tells them a story and moves them.” ^[2]

A music video for the song "Van Diemen's Land" was released on 11 August 2014. It was directed by Lucas Thyer and filmed in Blue Lake in the Central Highlands of Tasmania.^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Renowned for Sound	^[4]
The Music Au	^[5]
Reverb Online	^[6]
Rolling Stone Australia	^[7]

Angus Fitz-Burden from Renowned for Sound said; "Other than the minimalist mid-album blues dirges "Breaker Morant" and "Loch and Gorge" and the telephone-filtered "Sandakan", the vast majority of the album doesn’t really stray from the stock standard, no frills Aussie pub-band sound of the early ‘80s that you still seem to hear in seedy pubs throughout the land however virtually doesn’t exist anymore on the vast spectrum of modern music. While it’s definitely nice to hear some attention paid to intriguing, textured lyrical content nowadays, they kind of read like that dusty old book of bush poetry that sits unread to this day on the bookshelf in your dad’s home-office."

Liz Giuffre from The Music AU said; "Clearly yearning for an old Australia, or at least wanting to have fun with some old myths and styles of old music, Russell Morris has delivered a mellow collection with Van Diemen's Land. Morris mixes international influences with local references from over time for his latest release. [It's] a good collection of folk/blues and national myths delivered by a man who knows his way around the local biz."

Courtney Laura of Reverb Online said; "It is evident through the detailed lyrics that he has spent quality time researching wonderful Australian stories and national myths, and constructing them into a collection of stunning folk and blues tracks. Throughout the whole album, Morris’s voice doesn’t waver as he adapts his vocals to each individual song and admirably clearly enunciates the stories through the lyrics. As each track is an unfolding story, they too have their own identity within the musicianship accompanying Morris." adding "Showcasing the spirit and history of our country, this is yet another of Morris’s projects to go out and add to your collection."

Michael Dwyer of Rolling Stone Australia said; "Like its predecessor, Van Diemen’s Land is all-true Aussie histories strung up on wiry blues arrangements like so many pages cut from yellowing broadsheets. The panorama spans colonial horrors to WW2 bombers and Japanese labour camps; dramas on river and sea and character portraits from Birdsville to Kings Cross. Morris’s voice is never less than totally engaged and engaging.”

Accolades

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2014, the album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album, losing out to Flesh & Blood by John Butler Trio^[8]

Track listing

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dexter's Big Tin Can"	Russell Morris, Mitch Cairns	3:07
2.	"Van Diemen's Land"	Morris, Shannon Bourne	4:36
3.	"Sweetest Thing" (featuring Vika and Linda Bull)	Morris, Bourne	2:59
4.	"Birdsville" (featuring Vika and Linda Bull)	Morris, Peter Robinson	3:28
5.	"Breaker Morant"	Morris, Bourne	3:46
6.	"Loch Ard Gorge"	Morris, Robinson	4:43
7.	"Burning Rodney"	Morris, Robinson	2:42
8.	"Witch of Kings X"	Morris, Garry Paige	4:47
9.	"Eureka"	Morris, Ed Nimmervoll	3:53
10.	"Sandakan"	Morris	4:06
11.	"Slide on the River"	Morris	3:37
12.	"Lucy McBride"	Morris	3:57
13.	"Bendigo Rock"	Morris	5:06

Personnel

Artwork – Ian Phillips Bass, Percussion, Keyboards – Mitch Cairns Cello - Anita Quayle Double Bass - Scott Owen Drums, Percussion – Adrian Violi, Rob Hirst Guitar – Shannon Bourne, Joe Robinson, Ross Hannaford, Phil Manning Guitar [slide] - Rick Springfield, Peter Robinson Mastered By – Joe Carra Mixed By – Michael Carpenter, Mitch Cairns Producer - Mitch Cairns Saxophone - Joe Camilleri Tambone - Dave Palmer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[9] 4 Australian Jazz and Blues Albums Chart (ARIA) 1 ^[10]

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Australian Albums Chart^[11] 76 Australian Artist Albums Chart^[12] 26 Australian Jazz & Blues Albums Chart^[13] 2 Chart (2015) Position Australian Jazz & Blues Albums Chart^[14] 9 Chart (2016) Position Australian Jazz & Blues Albums Chart^[15] 23 Chart (2017) Position Australian Jazz & Blues Albums Chart^[16] 35

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Edition(s)	Label	Catalogue
Australia	11 April 2014^[17]	CD digital download	Standard	FanFare, Ambition Records	FANFARE142
	30 October 2015^[18]	Vinyl			FANFARE142V

References

1. "The ARIA Report issue 1260" (PDF). ARIA. 17 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
2. "Russell Morris 'Sharkmouth' and 'Van Diemen's Land' To Be Released On Vinyl". Noise 11. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
3. "Russell Morris - Van Diemen's Land (OFFICIAL VIDEO)". YouTube. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
4. Fitz-Bugden, Angus (17 April 2014). "Album Review: Russell Morris – Van Diemen's Land". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
5. Giuffre, Liz (4 April 2014). "CD reviews Russell Morris Van Diemen's Land". Liz Giuffre. The Music AU. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
6. Laura, Courtney (12 April 2014). "[CD Review] RUSSELL MORRIS – Van Diemen's Land". Courtney Laura. Reverb Online. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
7. Dwyer, Michael (11 April 2014). "Russell Morris Van Diemen's Land Fanfare". - RollingStone Magazine. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
8. "2014 ARIA Awards Winners By Year". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 9 October 2014.
9. "Australiancharts.com – Russell Morris – Van Diemen's Land". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
10. "The ARIA Report issue 1260" (PDF). ARIA. 17 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
11. "Top 100 Albums Chart - 2014". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
12. "Top 50 Australia Albums Chart - 2014". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
13. "ARIA JAZZ & BLUES ALBUMS CHART 2014". Aria.com.au. 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
14. "ARIA JAZZ & BLUES ALBUMS CHART 2015". Aria.com.au. 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
15. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Jazz & Blues Albums 2016". ARIA. January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
16. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Jazz & Blues Albums 2017". ARIA. January 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
17. "Van Diemen's Land by Russell Morris". iTunes Store (Australia). Apple. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
18. "Van Diemen's Land by Russell Morris (Vinyl)". JBHiFi (Australia). JBHiFi. Retrieved 24 June 2016.