The theme at the heart of Felicity Urquhart and Josh Cunningham’s third album together is right up front. It’s the album title. It’s the name of the opening track. It’s the first lyric you hear: “Everything Around You”.
Even before the song came to life, those words were their guide, written on a whiteboard in their Birdsong studio as they crafted the album. Also close at hand was an illustration of a compass with a rose at the centre that Felicity loved, created by daughter Tia when she was still in primary school. The artwork inspired the design on the cover and became a connecting thread through the album’s many emotional highs. In every life there will be struggle and heartache, wonder and joy, all the points on the compass. It’s up to you how to respond, grow and find your way through hard times towards hope.
The result is a powerful statement from the multi-award-winning songwriters who established their careers on different paths, Felicity as a country hitmaker, Josh in the much-loved folk-rock trio The Waifs, then together as partners in life and music. Their debut as a duo, 2021’s The Song Club, was nominated for Golden Guitar and ARIA awards and topped the country charts, and 2023’s Birdsong won three Golden Guitars including song of the year for Size Up.
The new album’s title song acknowledges the healing power of music as the two sing together: “Sacred is the music/Let the notes of music ring/And don’t ever abuse it/Let it make you feel something.” As Josh says, “Music is a miraculous form of expression that can inspire hope, and that’s what we want to do with our songs.” Felicity adds: “Sharing our hopes, dreams and reflections feels like an important thing to do, not just for our own kids but for everything and everyone around us.”
The album finds their sound evolving and seamlessly melds a broad range of influences, from the bluesy licks of New Frontier to the country-soul of Lifeline. Would Not Want For Much is a love song that rings as clear and true as a classic from the pen of Dolly Parton or Willie Nelson. Everything Around You, Go North Go South and New Frontier contain messages to the next generation, daughters Tia and Ellie, who both contribute to the album’s final song Grace & Joy. The rockabilly twang of Joy Roller features blazing guitar work from Josh to match the message in the lyric and the energy of the band performance with co-producer Matt Fell on bass and drummer Josh Schuberth. The sublime country-rock song Stone in Your Heart finds the pair
reflecting on their own experiences dealing with grief and trauma and resolving to find the positive and “stick with love”. Felicity says: “If saying that in a song helps someone else, even just one person, then that’s magic to me.”
Male-female singing duos have always been prominent in country music and the combination of Felicity and Josh as co-writers and co-singers adds rich textures to that story. Josh says: “I had sung a few songs in The Waifs but right from the start Fliss told me I’d be singing in every song. Sometimes we sing more conventional harmony parts and sometimes we sing the song together from start to finish, working together to create one voice.”
Felicity: “When you write a song it has to be nurtured, you need that support. We’re able to do that for each other and that’s a gift, it shows in the music that we make and love so deeply.” Every night on stage they feel that love returned in the reaction from the audience. As Josh says: “The connection at a live gig, that human interaction, is something that technology won’t ever replace.”
SONG STORIES
EVERYTHING AROUND YOU Josh: “Some songs take years to emerge, but this one happened quickly. Most of the other tunes were recorded by the time we had a go at writing the title track, and after an hour at the table it was done. It wasn’t intentional but the lyrics are almost like advice to our girls, some wisdom from our own experiences to help them on the way.”
PLEASE OURSELVES Felicity: “I was having a heart-to-heart with a close friend, whose advice was, ‘You can’t worry about other people, you have to please yourself.’ I promptly put that on the whiteboard knowing it was destined to inspire a song.”
LIFELINE Josh: “I haven’t been involved in a lot of key-change songs but we made up for it here, there’s one at the start of every chorus which really fits the lyric, giving a sense of ascending as you’re rescued from the trouble you’ve been in.”
NEW FRONTIER Felicity: “Digital addiction, algorithmic control and unchecked progress towards a technocratic dystopia are themes that need to be gritty and blues-soaked in their musical expression. We have to thank our co-producer Matt Fell who played bass and keys and Josh Schuberth on drums for helping us to achieve that.”
STONE IN YOUR HEART Josh: “Most experiences in life are common to us all. If you can express your personal story in a three-and-a-half minute song, it can really resonate with people. That’s particularly powerful on this track with its encouragement to leave the weight of bitterness behind and carry love instead.”
I WANT YOU Felicity: “In the midst of everything around you, being attracted to the one you love on all the deep levels is so important. It’s such a fun song to play live, a real celebration of love.”
RIVERSIDE Josh: “We get to hear many powerful stories both sad and uplifting as we share our music, especially across regional areas. This song was inspired from a combination of several such stories.”
JOY ROLLER Felicity: “I was online looking for the perfect Christmas gift for my mum. She loves markets so I thought of a shopping cart, and when an Aussie company called Joyrolla came across my radar, I hit click to buy. I nailed the present and also got a new lyric idea for the whiteboard.”
WOULD NOT WANT FOR MUCH Josh: “I’ve loved country music since I was a boy and always had dreams of being in a country band. This began as a song idea for that project but sat unfinished for many years. It wasn’t until Felicity came along that it became complete. That’s entirely fitting as there’s something so pure that she brings to a song like this.”
GO NORTH GO SOUTH Felicity: “More advice for the kids. Get off your bums and do stuff. See the country, see the world, do whatever you want to do but just enjoy life and go in the knowledge that you are loved.”
CATCH THAT FEELING Josh: “Sometimes the spark of inspiration goes missing, and the only way to get it back is to go hunting for it. Slippery and elusive though it may be, running down your passion is a most rewarding exercise.”
GRACE AND JOY Felicity: “Grace and Joy are the girls’ middle names. They are both budding muso’s and on this track, Tia played fiddle and Ellie played bass. Having them play on a song written about them was a lovely way to finish the album.”