The Makarrata Project

The Makarrata Project is the twelfth studio album by Australian band Midnight Oil, released on 30 October 2020 by Sony Music Australia. The album is the first new material from the band since 2002's Capricornia, their first studio album to hit #1 on the ARIA Charts since 1990's Blue Sky Mining,[2] and one of the final releases to feature bassist and backing vocalist Bones Hillman before his death in November 2020.[3]

The Makarrata Project
Studio album by
Midnight Oil
Released30 October 2020
StudioRancom Street Studios, Oceanic Studios (Sydney)
Length33:31
LabelSony
ProducerWarne Livesey
Midnight Oil chronology
Armistice Day
(2018)		 The Makarrata Project
(2020)		 Resist
(2022)
Singles from The Makarrata Project
  1. "Gadigal Land"
    Released: 7 August 2020
  2. "First Nation"
    Released: 25 September 2020[1]

At the 2021 ARIA Music Awards, the album was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Group and Best Rock Album.[4]

Background

In a statement, Midnight Oil members said, "After centuries of struggle for recognition and justice, 2017's Uluru Statement from the Heart called for the establishment of a 'First Nations Voice' enshrined in the Australian Constitution and the establishment of a 'Makarrata Commission' to supervise agreement-making and truth-telling between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We will donate our share of any proceeds received from this release to organisations which seek to elevate the Uluru Statement from the Heart in particular and Indigenous reconciliation more broadly".[5][6]

Makarrata is a Yolngu word "describing a process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice",[7] or "a coming together after a struggle", and delegates said that it "captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia", and the Makarrata Commission would "supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations".[8]

Frontman Peter Garrett said, "It's been 250 years since Cook landed, when Aboriginal and Islander peoples' children, land & waters were first taken away. Yet the impacts of the original dispossession are still widely felt. We urgently need to up the ante on Reconciliation generally and follow through on the ground breaking Uluru Statement. These songs are about recognising that our shared history needs settlement, and that more than ever, as the Statement From The Heart proclaims, we need to walk together to create a better future".[1]

Midnight Oil had recorded 20 tracks with Warne Livesey producing.[9] The Makarrata Project is a seven-track mini-album, which features collaborations with Indigenous artists and First Nations people.[9]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[10]
The Guardian[11]

Bernard Zuel from The Guardian said "The Makarrata Project focuses on Indigenous issues and white relationships to them from several angles [and] ... the songs veer from some kind of gospel-folk over a piano rumination, winsome atmosphere and back-porch balladry to brass-punching, rattling rock, tense-but-rhythmic groove, outright pop and sunset acoustic sway. In them, Midnight Oil's main songwriters, Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie and Peter Garrett, express anger and frustration, hope and connection – historical and contemporary."[11]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."First Nation" (featuring Jessica Mauboy and Tasman Keith)Robert Hirst, Tasman Keith Jarrett[12]4:51
2."Gadigal Land" (featuring Dan Sultan, Joel Davison, Kaleena Briggs and Bunna Lawrie)Hirst, Davidson, Lawrie[13]4:45
3."Change the Date" (featuring Gurrumul Yunupingu and Dan Sultan)James Moginie, Yunupingu[14]5:58
4."Terror Australia" (featuring Alice Skye)Peter Garrett, Bones Hillman[15]3:49
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Desert Man, Desert Woman" (featuring Frank Yamma)Garrett, Yamma[16]3:09
6."Wind in My Head" (Makarrata version featuring Kev Carmody and Sammy Butcher)Moginie, Carmody, N Murray, Butcher[17]4:19
7."Uluru Statement from the Heart / Come on Down" (featuring Pat Anderson, Stan Grant, Adam Goodes, Ursula Yovich and Troy Cassar-Daley)Anderson, Grant, Goodes, Yovich, Cassar-Daley / Moginie[18]6:40
Total length:33:31

Personnel

Credits based on Sony Music Entertainment (19439793942) cover notes:[19]

Midnight Oil

Other personnel

Technical work

  • Producer, mixer, recording engineer – Warne Livesey recorded at Rancom Street Studios and Oceanic Studios, Sydney
  • Engineer (additional) – Jim Moginie
  • Mastering – Emily Lazar at The Lodge, New York City
  • Artwork – James Bellesini

Charts

References
  1. "New single 'First Nation' music video". midnightoil. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  2. "Midnight Oil return for fifth ARIA Charts #1 album". Aria Chart.
  3. "Midnight Oil's Bones Hillman dies, aged 62". The Australian. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. Kelly, Vivienne (20 October 2021). "ARIA Awards nominees revealed: Amy Shark & Genesis Owusu lead the charge". The Music Network. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  5. "Midnight Oil Release First New Song in 17 Years". Spin. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  6. Chrysanthos, Natassia (27 May 2019). "What is the Uluru statement?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  7. Pearson, Luke (10 August 2017). "What is a Makarrata? It's more than a synonym for treaty". ABC News (Radio National). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. Hobbs, Harry; Williams, George (1 March 2018). "The Noongar Settlement: Australia's First Treaty". Sydney Law Review. 40 (1). Retrieved 21 July 2020 – via Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII).
  9. Jenke, Tyler (25 September 2020). "Midnight Oil Detail Forthcoming Mini-Album, 'The Makarrata Project'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  10. Monger, Timothy (4 November 2020). "Midnight Oil - The Makarrata Project". Allmusic.
  11. Zuel, Berard (30 October 2020). "Midnight Oil: The Makarrata Project review – a chorus of anger over stolen land". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  12. "'First Nation' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  13. "'Gadigal Land' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  14. "'Change the Date' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  15. "'Terror Australia' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  16. "'Desert Man Desert Woman' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  17. "'Wind in My Head' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'
  18. "'Come on Down' at APRA search engine". APRA AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society). Retrieved 27 September 2020. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:' This reference only relates to "Come on Down".
  19. Midnight Oil (2020), The Makarrata Project, retrieved 24 December 2020
  20. "Australiancharts.com – Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  21. "Swisscharts.com – Midnight Oil – The Makarrata Project". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  22. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
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