New Album: Christopher Coleman & The Great Escape - 'The Great Tasmanian Escape'

Christopher Coleman & The Great Escape present their captivating debut record The Great Tasmanian Escape + upcoming Hobart album launch presented by Mona

Seasoned storyteller and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Coleman is a creative tour de force who spins epic tales about the intricacies and intimacies of Australian life. Through his many ephemeral live and studio manifestations as a solo artist, in duo form, or with his transient state-by-state band lineups, Coleman’s illustrious storytelling candour has remained the unshakeable centrepiece of his work for the past decade. The songwriting journeyman’s latest incarnation sees Coleman backed by an eight-piece all-Tassie supergroup of musicians including Glenn Richards (Augie March), the late great Mike Noga (The Drones) and more. The group are thrilled to finally welcome their debut album, and Coleman’s third long play, The Great Tasmanian Escape out now via Oscar Treehouse Records and Museum of Old and New Art (Mona). To celebrate the release Christopher Coleman & The Great Escape will be launching the record with a hometown nipaluna show Sunday 27 March.

Set against the backdrop of rural Tasmanian life, The Great Tasmanian Escape is a semi-autobiographical affair, narrating a decade in the life of the record’s protagonist, Jesse after he returns from serving in the Middle East. Equal parts fact and fiction, debut single ‘Jesse’ first introduced listeners to this central character, following his journey as he struggles to integrate back into his hometown of Sydney and decides to escape the mainland and embark upon an epic adventure across Tasmania—arriving with nothing, and leaving with nothing.

“The idea for the album has grown slowly but with a strength that my previous work hasn’t had before” Coleman says. “I marked 30-odd places on a map where I wanted to spend time. I haven’t got to them all, but I tried writing something for each of these towns.”

Mona and Oscar Treehouse Records present
Christopher Coleman & The Great Escape
Sunday 27 March
Cathedral In The Hanging Garden
nipaluna/Hobart
6pm
Special guest: Claire Anne Taylor
Tickets via Oztix