Malk by Saltwater Band

Malk is the latest release from the Saltwater band. This their third studio album has been a long time in the making and presents the band in a new dynamic style. Legends in northern Australia the rest of the country can now experience the extraordinary talents of two of the country’s finest performers Manuel Dhurrkay and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. Manuel and Gurrumul are the Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the north the pop writing skills of Manuel combined with the deeply serious ballads of Gurrumul is a perfect combination that creates a very pop/ska-orientated band that also features traditional based songs from the far north.

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In 1998 eight young and talented musicians set out on the road to become recording artists. The Saltwater Band from Elcho Island off the northeast Arnhemland coast set their sights on releasing their debut album. Northeast Arnhemland already had a strong reputation for producing exceptional musicians and bands, such as Soft Sands band. Soft Sands were probably the first NT band to tour overseas. Then came the lead singer of the Warumpi Band - George Rrurrambu - and of course Yothu Yindi. Members of the Saltwater Band have direct connections with all of these bands as Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Saltwater Band’s enigmatic singer/songwriter and guitarist, had been a member of Yothu Yindi during the time that Yothu Yindu created their most successful album “Tribal Voice”.

Manuel Dhurrkay and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu were the heart and soul of the Saltwater Band. Manuel and Geoffrey complemented each other well with Manuel creating and delivering the more pop orientated songs and Geoffrey re-interpreting and presenting traditional songs of the Gumatj clan in classical ballad format.

In 1999, the release of the band’s first album “Gapu Damarrung” reached unprecedented heights in sales across Northern Australia it would have made the ARIA charts if those sales had been through traditional music stores instead of through the community store and art centres which serve as retail outlets for much of the Indigenous music across Northern Australia. “Gapu Damarrung” set the benchmark for future albums.

In 2004, Saltwater Band released their second album “Djarridjarri/Blue Flag”. This album created a new benchmark for the band. It achieved numerous outstanding reviews and is still selling very strongly. “Djarridjarri/Blue Flag” was nominated for an ARIA in the World Music category and won album of the year at the 2004 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and Music Awards in Sydney (The Deadlys).

Saltwater Band’s long awaited third album “Malk” was released in September 2010. Title track Malk is an exuberant anthemic arrangement that features Natalie Pa’apa’a [Blue King Brown] who lends her strong vocal to what should be a radio favourite. The album closes with a jubilant remix of this track [Our Skin] by Groove Terminator and is a dance-floor favourite. The album immediately generated quality media attention and national airplay across the ABC network and various radio stations around the country.

Saltwater Band’s career will always be challenged by the physical isolation from the major music markets of Australia but the band’s members are determined to create quality albums and continue to carve out a place for the band in the national and international music scenes.

Saltwater Band are Yolngu artists, Indigenous root band from the Northern Territory.

Their songs are influenced by reggae/ska and mixture of traditional songs.