Shining Bird is an experimental pop band from the coastal town of Austinmer, NSW Australia.

Originally formed as a studio project in 2012, they released the ‘Shade of the Sea’ EP, followed by their debut album ‘Leisure Coast’ on Spunk Records in 2013. The album received widespread acclaim for its unique brand of Australian dream pop. On the back of strong reviews from publications such as Rolling Stone, Russh and the SMH, as well as earning Album of the Week on ABC’s Radio National, ‘Leisure Coast’ helped propel Shining Bird towards a new bunch of listeners.

“Over a decade into their journey as a band, Shining Bird have returned with their fourth full length album amidst big transitions surrounding both the band and their personal lives. Open Ground will be the final release on their long-time home - Spunk Records, who have called it a day after twenty-five amazing years. But the end of one era signals the beginning of a brand-new chapter, with the exciting launch of the Silhouette Label run by Shining Bird members Russell Webster and James Kates, who will co-release the new record.

Recording once again with long-time collaborator Tim Whitten, Open Ground has already delivered Out Of The Black Maia, which gave some indication of where the album is headed, but there are some genuine surprises in store throughout this record, with Silver Lining bring the more pop element of the band to forefront.

Three members of the band became first time fathers over the last two years, which seems to have shifted the way that songwriting is now approached. Russell says “I think up until this record, we would take a long time to write songs. Anywhere from 3 months to three years. Almost like a garden we would tend to over many seasons, allowing it to grow. This collection of songs came quickly, and it was so much more about capturing or documenting the profound changes moving through us in real time”.

The album was recorded to tape over four intense days at Golden Retriever in Sydney. “Tim played such a huge role on this one. From arrangement and structure ideas to creating an environment where we all felt safe and relaxed enough to enter and perform these songs from the vulnerable place first emerged “ say the band of their recording experience, on what is their most personal and intimate collection of songs to date. The band also enlisted J Walker (Machine Translations) to contribute his unique string arrangements across Open Ground.

Formed initially as a studio project in 2012, they released the Shade of the Sea EP, followed by their debut album Leisure Coast through Spunk Records in 2013. The album received widespread acclaim for its unique brand of Australian pop. It earned Album of the Week on Radio National and received strong reviews from publications such as; Rolling Stone and SMH.  The band’s second album Black Opal was released in 2016 through Spunk Records. Produced by Russell Webster (keyboards), and mixed by Tim Whitten (The Go-Betweens, Hoodoo Gurus) it picked up album of the year and song of the year for both; Rivermouth & Helluva Lot.  Rolling Stone called it ‘Almost Flawless’. In 2021 the band released album number three ‘Deadlands’ which received an Australian Music Prize nomination and gained a cult following as the bands most ambitious work to date.

Shining Bird has toured Australia extensively and supported supporting acts such as Midnight Oil, Kurt Vile, The Drones, Beach House, DMA’s, and Father John Misty and while live appearances have been few and far between in the past few years, they've just launched their new album and we're excited to have them here to celebrate it. 

Supported by Northern Rivers (ish) experimental band Cheap Gloomer.