Nic Cester is paying tribute to one of Melbourne’s landmarks, the Skipping Girl Vinegar sign, with his first children’s book ‘Skipping Girl’.
Cester, the lead singer of Jet, was passing the iconic landmark in Victoria Street when the inspiration for the book dawned on him.
“I was looking at it during a pivotal moment in my life,” he recalls. “For the first time I saw it as a metaphor. On the surface it’s very beautiful and colourful and lights up the skyline, but there’s also a deep sadness to it. For me, it’s always been very melancholic because it’s a child who is trapped in this eternal loop that’s not going anywhere. And for me that was a really powerful metaphor for someone who is trapped in a repetitive loop of any kind: it could be alcoholism, an unhappy relationship, or a job that you’re dissatisfied with.”
Nic recruited artist Richolly Rosazza for the images. Richolly’s work on his previous work ‘L’ospite’ is a favourite of Nic’s daughter Marilda. Nic has recorded a campanion album to go with the book. “The songs are a mix of vignettes of stories from my own life, with stories from my own childhood, and ideas I’d like to impart upon my daughter. Hopefully when she grows up, she can listen to the songs and explore those ideas a little deeper.”
The sessions were Nic’s first since leaving lockdown at his home in Milan, Italy. “It was amazing to have the chance to go to that incredibly beautiful studio, which is also mind-bogglingly interesting. Suddenly we could go to a restaurant and a studio and listen to an orchestra. It was a sensory overload! Carbonara, wine, music: it was beautiful.”
The ‘Skipping Girl’ book will be released in English and Italian.
‘Skipping Girl’ album tracklist:
1. ‘Goodnight Beautiful’ (intro)
2. ‘Forever’
3. ‘Emily’
4. ‘Cry Baby’
5. ‘Don’t Lean On Me’
6. ‘Ordinary Love’
7. ‘The Way That We Are’
8. ‘All In Your Head’
9. ‘Goodnight Beautiful’ (outro)
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