Australian rock band Midnight Oil are returning with new music for the first time in 18 years.
Gadigal Land is named after the traditional inhabitants of what is now Sydney and will be released on Friday, while a video will premiere a day later during the National Indigenous Music Awards.
The song is the first single from Midnight Oil’s upcoming mini-album The Makarrata Project, which is set for release in October.
NEW SINGLE 'GADIGAL LAND' OUT FRIDAYPRE-SAVE: https://t.co/X76IkOXLn7MORE INFO: https://t.co/Hod4lQwYO3 pic.twitter.com/VBrS8txfaR
— Midnight Oil (@midnightoilband) August 2, 2020
Gadigal Land features vocalists Kaleena Briggs, Bunna Lawrie and Dan Sultan as well as a lyrical section written and delivered by Gadigal poet Joel Davison.
Midnight Oil said the band’s share of proceeds from the song will be donated to organisations backing The Uluru Statement From The Heart.
The statement was released in 2017 and calls on the Australian government to enshrine a “First Nations Voice” into the county’s constitution.
In a statement, Midnight Oil said: “We’ve always been happy to lend our voice to those who call for racial justice, but it really feels like we’ve reached a tipping point.
“We urge the federal government to heed the messages in the Uluru Statement From The Heart and act accordingly.
“Hopefully this song and The Makarrata Project mini-album we’ve created alongside our First Nations friends can help shine a bit more light on the urgent need for genuine reconciliation in this country and in many other places too.”
The band had a UK top 10 hit in 1989 with Beds Are Burning, a song calling for lands to be returned to Aboriginal communities.