Tasmanian singer-songwriter Bully Hay released his brand new single ‘Wash Off The World’ which drives home a message of empowerment and inspiration, topped off with the addition of The Tea Party’s Jeff Martin on production, recording, and mixing duties.
Also armed with an accompanying music video, Wash Off The World marks Bully Hay’s first single off his forthcoming debut album, Black Dogs and Songbirds due out later this year on Wednesday, October 30.
Bully Hay- ‘Wash Off The World’
Bully Hay shared his song in detail. “I want to get inside the ocean and wash off the world” declares Bully Hay, aka Jonathon Coleman, in the opening buoyant lines of Wash Off The World. Mimicking literal waves with its rolling and receding verses and choruses, Wash Off The World glistens with a wash of guitars and immersive textures, beckoning you to revisit time and time again with its fluctuating elements and flavors. “The sound is reminiscent of the early Powderfinger albums but has this (John) Bonham solid drum sound powering through,” shares Bully Hay. “And Jeff Martin’s influence throughout lent itself beautifully to really fill out certain sections.”
He added, “Often, it’s a process where the sound is shaped kind of unconsciously throughout the songwriting and recording process. I have never written a song with an artist or influence in mind and try hard not to. It’s not until after it’s finished, that I start to recognize: ‘This sounds a little like Powderfinger or Something for Kate here and there’. And of course, you can’t deny Jeff Martin’s influence across the sound. I’ve been a huge fan of Jeff and The Tea Party for over 20 years.”
Teaming up with his musical hero Jeff Martin to bring Wash Off The World to fruition, Bully Hay also channeled notions of enlightenment and awakening into the uplifting track, with Bully Hay penning the song almost a decade ago before ultimately jumping in with Martin to unleash it into the world in 2024. “Working with Jeff would be up there in the top memorable times of my life!” says Bully Hay. “I’d met Jeff through a mutual friend one night in Hobart after he played a solo gig down there. We ended up having a few drinks and sharing a few songs with each other. Jeff offered to produce a record of my songs.”
“As a producer, it’s an incredible experience when you’re working with a singer and don’t have to use any of those evils like Autotune because the guy has perfect pitch every single time,” shares Jeff Martin of working with Bully Hay. “And the harmonies he comes up with…I couldn’t even do that! What Jono has accomplished – which is very rare – is that he can go from tender ballads in the style of Jeff Buckley, to country rock which reminds the listener of vintage Eagles, to these epic rock opuses.”
The song is engineered by Paul Pilsneniks (Silverchair, The Whitlams, Boy & Bear, Dope Lemon), Wash Off The World was also mastered by the Grammy-nominated extraordinaire Joe Carra (The Teskey Brothers, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard) at Crystal Mastering. The accompanying music video is an affecting piece that brings together a powerful live performance as well as a moving narrative throughline. “The song to me is about breaking free of the walls imposed on us by our day-to-day grind and focussing on the important things in life.” says Bully Hay, “I used some of the lyrics of the song to create a visual representation of this, by having our protagonist literally run to the ocean to cleanse/reset his life.”
“Wash Off The World is the first single from my debut album Black Dogs and Songbirds which is a full-length, 11-track album I’ll be releasing later this year,” Bully Hay concludes. “Working with Jeff Martin on this album as my producer was a huge honour. He was able to draw these songs out of me and make them the best that they could possibly be. Listening to these songs, you’ll hear influences like Paul Kelly, Crowded House, Powderfinger, Soundgarden, Jeff Buckley and The Tea Party coming through, but the album now has its own Bully Hay sound. We’ve created something really special. Sharing the album will be my absolute pleasure. I can’t wait to get it out there.”
Wash Off The World is out today here
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