Singer-songwriter Tim Wheatley will release his new EP, Shiny Tacoma, on Thursday, 19th May. We’re premiering it on Music Feeds.
Tim Wheatley recorded Shiny Tacoma in 2019 with producer Steven Schram (Paul Kelly, San Cisco). Wheatley initially planned on making an album with Schram, but once 2020 intervened, he decided to split the anticipated album into two EPs.
The four songs on Shiny Tacoma – including the title track, which Wheatley released as a single in April 2022 – are upbeat country numbers. There’s plenty of acoustic guitar, Rhodes piano and twanging lead guitar licks. The EP was mostly cut live, and Wheatley’s long-time associate, guitarist Michael Badger, makes his presence known.
On track two, ‘California Tree,’ Wheatley reflects on his time living in sunny Los Angeles. But despite the track’s upbeat, sunny music, there’s a note of dark sarcasm to Wheatley’s lyrics.
The EP’s penultimate track, ‘Coattail Rider,’ centres on Wheatley’s time living in East London’s hip Shoreditch neighbourhood. Of the track’s boisterous character, Wheatley said he was “listening to a lot of The Pogues and wanted to try and capture a big drunken singalong vibe.”
Wheatley’s new release arrives just months after the death of his father, Australian music industry icon Glenn Wheatley. Prior to his death, Glenn Wheatley recorded an audiobook version of his memoir, Paper Paradise: Confessions Of A Rock ‘N’ Roll Survivor, which was first published in 1999. The audiobook is coming out on Thursday, 19th May – the same day as Shiny Tacoma. Listen to a preview below.
Wheatley’s EP finishes with a cover of ‘Because I Love You’, originally recorded by his dad’s former band, The Masters Apprentices, in 1971. “I recorded [it] with Justin Stanley to celebrate 50 years since The Masters had recorded it at Abbey Road Studios, London,” Wheatley said.
Listen to ‘Because I Love You’ and the rest of Shiny Tacoma below ahead of its release on Thursday, 19th May.
