Midnight Oil will release a previously unavailable recording of their intimate 2017 Selina’s performance, revisiting their second album during the band’s return to live performance after a 15-year hiatus.
by Paul Cashmere
Midnight Oil will release Head Injuries (Live At Selina’s) on 27 November, documenting the Sydney band’s 13 April 2017 performance at Selina’s at the Coogee Bay Hotel. The album will be issued on CD and black vinyl, with pre-orders opening at 9am on Friday, 4 September. The recording captures a rare concert in which Midnight Oil performed seven songs associated with their 1979 album Head Injuries, including “Cold Cold Change”, “Section 5 (Bus To Bondi)”, “Back On The Borderline”, “Koala Sprint”, “No Reaction”, “Profiteers” and “Is It Now?”.
The Selina’s performance was the first official show of Midnight Oil’s Great Circle 2017 reunion tour, following a secret warm-up appearance at Marrickville Bowling Club several days earlier. Noise11 reported at the time that the Selina’s set represented a significant return to the band’s early repertoire, with “Profiteers” having been performed only rarely and “Is It Now?” appearing just a handful of times in the preceding decades.
The newly announced release also includes “Wedding Cake Island”, the instrumental named after the offshore rock formation near Coogee Beach. That song had originally appeared on the Bird Noises EP in 1980, making its inclusion particularly relevant to a recording made at a venue on the same stretch of Sydney coastline.
The concert was recorded by longtime Midnight Oil front-of-house engineer Colin Ellis and mixed by Australian live sound engineer Greg Wales. The performance was witnessed by approximately 2,000 people and now becomes available commercially for the first time.
Head Injuries occupies an important position in Midnight Oil’s catalogue. Released in October 1979 through the band’s own Powderworks label, the album followed their self-titled 1978 debut and provided a clearer representation of the force that had established the group as one of Australia’s most formidable live acts.
The album reached No. 36 on the Australian Kent Music Report and was certified platinum in Australia. Produced by Leszek J. Karski and recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, it marked a considerable development in the band’s sound, combining aggressive guitar rock with more expansive arrangements.
By the time Midnight Oil returned to the stage in 2017, Head Injuries had become one of the less frequently represented periods in their live repertoire. The Selina’s concert deliberately changed that balance. Noise11’s contemporary report noted the unusual concentration of material from the album, describing the seven-song sequence as the surprise of the evening.
The reunion itself carried considerable historical weight. Midnight Oil had effectively ended their regular touring cycle after the Capricornia tour in 2002, although the musicians subsequently reunited for selected performances, including WaveAid in 2005 and Sound Relief in 2009. The Great Circle tour represented their first sustained return to the road in 15 years. Noise11 reported that the international tour began in South America later in April 2017, after the Selina’s performance.
The 2017 touring lineup brought together Peter Garrett, Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie, Martin Rotsey and bassist Bones Hillman. The new release has been completed with the participation of founding member Rob Hirst and features Hillman, with the album dedicated to their memories and contribution to Midnight Oil.
The Selina’s recording therefore documents more than a selection of older songs. It captures a specific point in the group’s history when material from the formative years was being reconsidered by musicians who had spent decades expanding Midnight Oil’s musical and cultural reach.
Head Injuries (Live At Selina’s) will be released on 27 November in two physical formats. The CD carries all 10 tracks in a single sequence, while the vinyl edition divides the programme across two sides.
Tracklisting
CD
Intro
Cold Cold Change
Section 5 (Bus To Bondi)
Back On The Borderline
Koala Sprint
No Reaction
Stand In Line
Profiteers
Is It Now?
Wedding Cake Island
Vinyl
Side A
Intro
Cold Cold Change
Section 5 (Bus To Bondi)
Back On The Borderline
Koala Sprint
No Reaction
Side B
Stand In Line
Profiteers
Is It Now?
Wedding Cake Island
Release Information
Head Injuries (Live At Selina’s) is released 27 November.
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