Citadel Records is well pleased to announce the October 28th release of Coelum Versus, the debut solo album from Jim Dickson.
Not an immediately recognizable name perhaps, but Jim has been a long time contributor to the Australian and international Indie music scene. His career as a bass player has spanned 40 years from the early days of 70's punk in Brisbane with the Survivors to most recently touring the world as a member of Radio Birdman.
In-between he has been a member of such iconic bands as Sydney's Passengers, London based Barracudas and back again in Sydney, The New Christs. He has also played and recorded with Louis Tillett, Deniz Tek, Charlie Owen, Paul Berwick, Russell Murch and Steve Lucas and has been the bass player for Penny Ikinger's Sydney band.
After years of being part of a rhythm section for so many artists, Jim decided to embark on a project of his own, writing an album's worth of songs on which he plays acoustic and bass guitar as well as singing lead vocals.
"Coelum Versus is basically a story, conceptual in its making, based on meditations on tragedy, suffering, redemption, revelation and rebirth... aspects of life brought very near to me by the passage of the lives of friends whose lives I hold very dear." says Jim.
The album has elements of pop, psychedelia, rhythm and blues, folk and gospel, fleshed out with rock'n'roll. It filters the sounds and styles of many bands, songwriters and authors whom Jim has found exhilarating and influencing over the years. Ray Davies of The Kinks, Pete Townshend of The Who, Donovan, Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Shadows, Pink Floyd, Carl Sagan, Iain M Banks and a plethora of obscure garage and 60's pop, folkrock and psychedelic bands.
Assembled for the album are a diverse group of local Sydney musicians; Rebecca Hancock (Ed Kuepper, Watusi Now and solo artist in her own right with The Prison Wives) on guitar and backing vocals; Bow Campbell (Front End Loader, The Dead Marines) on guitar and backing vocals; Nick Fisher (Wet Taxis, late 1980's New Christs, Louis Tillett, Bughouse) on drums and percussion; and Brent Williams (The New Christs, Zambian Goat Herders, Vvovos) on keyboards. Deniz Tek, Paul Berwick and Suzy Goodwin make special guest appearances as does Nick's son Carlo Fisher.
