Inshalla (album)

Inshalla is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band Eskimo Joe, released on 29 May 2009. The first single from the album is "Foreign Land", which was released in April 2009. A special limited edition 2CD release of the album contains live versions of songs from their previous album, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, and is only on sale in the band's home state of Western Australia. The album debuted at number one on the Australian ARIA Charts.

Inshalla
Studio album by
Eskimo Joe
Released29 May 2009 (2009-05-29)
RecordedOctober – November 2008
StudioStudios 301, Byron Bay, Australia
GenreAlternative rock
LabelWarner
ProducerGil Norton
Eskimo Joe chronology
Beating like a Drum
(2007)		 Inshalla
(2009)		 Ghosts of the Past
(2011)
Singles from Inshalla
  1. "Foreign Land"
    Released: 6 April 2009
  2. "Losing Friends Over Love"
    Released: 26 June 2009
  3. "Don't Let Me Down"
    Released: September 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Herald Sun
Rolling Stone [1]

Background

In an interview with Australian radio station Triple J, lead singer Kav Temperley explained his choice of an Arabic word for the album title.

It basically translates to 'what will be will be' but the literal translation is 'God willing'. It's a really beautiful Arabic word and it basically means a resignation to fate, like you're kind of letting the chips lie where they will. The people in the Arabic world use it all the time, they use it for like, 'who knows?'

— Kav Temperley[2]

Inshalla explores a very different sound for Eskimo Joe. The band have mentioned that they were at a stage where they wanted to do something different musically and also in their personal lives.

I had a real moment when in Egypt with our manager and I kind of had to make a decision whether I wanted to jump further off the precipice of being a rock star or just be Kav again and go back home to Fremantle. And that's basically what I chose and that's where the stories from the album came from. The album starts off at that moment and goes in to a more – I hate to say it – hopeful place.

— Kavyen Temperley[2]

In an interview Joel Quartermain explains

With the last record we wanted to write an album that was very distilled and every song sounded like it came from that record, whereas this time we just went in a bunch of different directions. It's all over the shop. We didn't try to think about it too much as we did last time. It is much less sculptured. It is the heaviest thing we've done, but the album also has the most gentle music we've made as well.

— Joel Quartermain[3]

Production

The band has been in the studio since 2008 working on new material. Two early demos during the recording sessions were leaked onto YouTube. The band later confirmed that they were only released on the site for a maximum of 24 hours. The songs were titled "Childhood Behaviour" and "Losing My Mind". During a live performance the title of the album was announced and so was the first single.

The band decided not to produce the album themselves, as they had for previous albums, instead engaging Gil Norton (The Pixies, Foo Fighters, Gomez). A producer that the band had always dreamed of one day working with.[4]

Gil's sensibilities are pop and one of trimming all the fat and leaving what's essential. It was a nice dream-come-true moment thing after so long.

— Joel Quartermain[4]

The album was recorded at Studio 301 in Byron Bay, New South Wales.

"Foreign Land" was created from an eight-second sample of traditional Turkish music that the band looped and added drum parts to. The song was written as a tribute to Australian actor Heath Ledger, who died in January 2008.[5] The album's middle eastern flavour also extends to the title track, "Inshalla", which was written by Temperley while he was travelling around Egypt with the band's manager.

Inshalla is the first Eskimo Joe album to be released in Europe, as a result of the band's signing with the European arm of Warner Music Group. Whilst the album will also be released in the United States the band intends to concentrate on Europe, after having recently toured there.[3]

Promotion

During the week of the album release, Eskimo Joe played a limited-access 30-minute set for only 200 fans in Sydney's George Street Apple Store as part of the iTunes Live from Sydney series. The performance will be available to purchase as a downloadable EP through the iTunes Store.[6][7]

The band have played a special preview concert coinciding with the album launch on 29 May for fans from their home town in Western Australia in the Astor Theatre, tickets were given away by Nova 937 as a competition.[8]

The band has planned a national tour to promote the album, for the second half of 2009.[6]

The album was nominated for the ARIA Album of the Year Award in 2009.[9]

Track listing
Inshalla
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Foreign Land" (contains elements from "Adiyaman (a province of South-Eastern part of Turkey)" performed by the Anadolu University Folk Dance Ensemble (A university student club in Turkish province of Eskisehir))Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin4:31
2."Inshalla"Eskimo Joe3:33
3."Losing Friends Over Love"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:38
4."The Sound of Your Heart"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:25
5."Childhood Behaviour"Eskimo Joe3:35
6."Don't Let Me Down"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:39
7."Falling for You" (Intro)Eskimo Joe0:42
8."Falling for You"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:05
9."Losing My Mind"Eskimo Joe3:17
10."Your Eyes"Eskimo Joe3:15
11."Please Elise"Eskimo Joe, Justin Burford3:09
12."Morning Light"Eskimo Joe3:22
13."Honeymoon" (iTunes bonus track)Eskimo Joe4:43
14."Thunderclap" (iTunes pre-order bonus track)Eskimo Joe3:33
Inshalla W.A. Limited Edition Bonus Disc – Live from the Enmore Theatre[10]
No.TitleLength
1."Comfort You"3:23
2."New York"4:02
3."Black Fingernails Red Wine"4:20
4."London Bombs"3:56
5."From the Sea"3:48
6."How Does It Feel"4:13
Inshalla Limited Edition 12" Vinyl Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Foreign Land" (contains elements from "Adiyaman (a province of South-Eastern part of Turkey)" performed by the Anadolu University Folk Dance Ensemble (A university student club in Turkish province of Eskisehir))Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin4:31
2."Inshalla"Eskimo Joe3:33
3."Losing Friends Over Love"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:38
4."The Sound of Your Heart"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:25
5."Childhood Behaviour"Eskimo Joe3:35
Inshalla Limited Edition 12" Vinyl Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Don't Let Me Down"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:39
7."Falling for You" (Intro)Eskimo Joe0:42
8."Falling for You"Eskimo Joe, Steve Parkin3:05
9."Losing My Mind"Eskimo Joe3:17
10."Your Eyes"Eskimo Joe3:15
11."Please Elise"Eskimo Joe, Justin Burford3:09
12."Morning Light"Eskimo Joe3:22

Personnel

Eskimo Joe

Additional musicians
  • Anne-Louise Comerford – strings ("Childhood Behaviour")
  • Phillip Hartl – strings ("Childhood Behaviour")
  • Andrew Hines – strings ("Childhood Behaviour")
  • Hugh Jennings – accordion ("Please Elise")
  • Lee Jones – guitar ("Please Elise")
  • Andy Lawson – vocals ("Don't Let Me Down")
  • Paul Millard – horns ("Losing My Mind")
  • Steve Parkin – vocals ("Losing Friends Over Love", "Don't Let Me Down", "Losing My Mind", "Please Elise")
  • Shaun Luke Sibbes – percussion ("Losing My Mind"), whistling ("Morning Light")
  • Mark Underwood – horns ("Losing My Mind")
  • Claire White – whistling ("Morning Light")

Production
  • Dave Bascombe – mixer
  • Andy Lawson – post-production engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Jimi Maroudas – engineer
  • Mathematics – design
  • Adrian Mesko – photography
  • Gil Norton – producer, mixer
  • Pablo Verduga – assistant engineer

Chart performance
Year Chart Peak Position
2009 ARIA Australian Album Chart[11] 1

Certification

The album achieved gold sales in only its first week in the charts.

Country Certification Shipments
Australia Gold[12] 35,000+

Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia 29 May 2009 Warner CD, digital download 5186534242
CD 5186540285
Canada Rykodisc 10987
United States 14 July 2009 Rykodisc 10987
Australia 11 December 2009 Warner 12" Vinyl 5186534247
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References
  1. Coyte, Matt (July 2009). "Inshalla – Eskimo Joe". Rolling Stone Australia. ACP Magazines. ISSN 1320-0615.
  2. "Eskimo Joe on the Arabic meaning of Inshalla". Triple J Music News. abc.net.au. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  3. Hanna, Jay (26 April 2009). "No Average Joe". The Sunday Times. Perth, WA: News Limited. ISSN 1442-9527.
  4. "Local Songwriters – Eskimo Joe". Mushroom Music Publishing. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
  5. Te Koha, Nui (19 August 2009). "Eskimo Joe write Foreign Land as a tribute to Heath Ledger". News.com.au. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  6. "Home". Eskimo Joe. eskimojoe.net.
  7. "iTunes Live from Sydney – EP: Eskimo Joe". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  8. "Hype Escalates Over Eskimo Joe Inshalla Release". crushable.com. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  9. Mengel, Noel (8 October 2009). "ARIA Awards 2009 nominations a musical mixed bag". The Courier Mail. News.com.au. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  10. "Inshalla: Online And Wa Only". sanity.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  11. "ARIA Top 50 Album Charts". ARIA. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  12. "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2009 Albums". ARIA. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
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