24 Hours A Night Robbie James

• 1 Square Moon Over Manhattan 04:23
• 2 24 Hours A Night 03:28
• 3 Levitation Is In The Air 02:36
• 4 Dreamed The Same As Me 03:21
• 5 Killcare 03:42
• 6 Baby's Got Eyes For You 04:09
• 7 So What 03:20
• 8 On Earth As It Is On Mars 02:38
• 9 Let's Take The Long Way Home Tonight 02:57
• 10 Old School Tie 03:55
• Total Runtime 34:29

Info for 24 Hours A Night

Robbie James can compose and perform with depth and sophistication in many different genres. And to each there is always an edge that is unmistakeably his. When Robbie performs live as a solo artist, he often defaults to his love of playing jazz guitar to accompany the pop melodies of his songs. After many decades of performing in this inimitable way, Robbie has finally recorded an album documenting this part of his musical story. 24 Hours A Night is a collection of what sounds like timeless standards performed with just jazz guitar and voice. With chords and walking bass lines happening simultaneously beneath his silky vocals, you are often left with the impression there is more than just one performer. A smoky thread of optimistic longing and reluctant surrender winds throughout Robbie’s songs such as Baby’s Got Eyes For You, Square Moon Over Manhattan and So What. While in Levitation Is In The Air and 24 Hours A Night these threads are loosened with subtle humour. The two instrumentals, Killcare and On Earth As It Is On Mars, showcase Robbie’s guitar virtuosity. As with all the guitar playing on the album, the mastery is humble, never showy, never an unnecessary note. The feel and the dedication to the song are the foundation.

Robbie James, guitar, vocals

Robbie James
The songs of Australian artist Robbie James have been described in reviews by music media in his home country as:

“Elegantly evocative, exhibiting that incredible sense of place that has so powerfully imbued the work of songwriters like Shane Howard and Neil Murray…”

“A truly Australian journal through time and space with deep respect for our vast and varied land...”

“Stories that all Australians can relate to...”

Robbie James has released three solo albums: Suzannah Suite, Secrets In The Sand and 24 Hours A Night. Suzannah Suite is a semi-orchestral song cycle about the displaced people of the European colonisation of Australia, and showcases some of James’ classical aria compositions. Secrets In The Sand, a pop album, is a journey across time and space in Australia. Its first single, Forgotten Beach (Byron Bay) was played by hundreds of radio stations across Australia, the album being nominated ABC’s album of the week. His third album, 24 Hours A Night, is a jazz guitar & voice recording showcasing James’ guitar virtuosity and his ability to write and sing songs in the style of the timeless standards of last century.

Robbie’s band GANGgajang, still recording and touring after 35 years, is regarded as one of the great and important Australian bands. Their songs were an integral part of the music revolution of the 1980s when the Australian sound was reinvented. The band’s most famous song, the timeless Sounds Of Then (This Is Australia), is regarded as one of the all-time classic Australian songs, and is often described as the country’s alternative national anthem.

Alongside GANGgajang, Robbie toured the world for five years with the semi-indigenous Australian band Yothu Yindi. He joined Yothu Yindi when both bands toured Brasil in 2001. This band were the first to put Aboriginal culture on the world stage, and like GANGgajang’s Sounds Of Then, Yothu Yindi’s Treaty is also one of Australia’s greatest ever songs, indeed one of the most important – the first hit in this country to integrate Aboriginal Manakay with western music, sung in the language of both cultures.

Wendy Matthews was a major artist of the 90s, being awarded Best Australian Female Artist two years running. Robbie was one of the principal songwriters on her first three platinum selling albums, contributing songs such as Square Moon, As We Speak, Mother Can’t Do, Homecoming Song and The Ruins Live On. He also played with her band on occasion as a special guest.

Since 2012, Robbie has been a member of Scattered People, a group of musicians who rose out of the Asylum Seeker Centre in Brisbane in 1998. Refugee claimants from various countries were using music to create solidarity with one another. He produced, arranged, performed on and co-wrote their third album Sugarmill Road.

Among the highlights of Robbie’s classical ventures, his string quintet arrangement of GANGgajang’s Sounds Of Then was performed as part of the London Paralympics in 2012. This piece was also performed by the Sydney Youth Orchestra at the New South Wales Premier’s Luncheon Concert in 2004. He was also commissioned twice by the City of Perth to compose extended semi-orchestral arrangements of his own song Nomadsland and Yothu Yindi’s Treaty for their Australia Day Sky Shows in 2000 and 2001.

This album contains no booklet.