“Joe McKee isn’t an American but he’s here now. He’s an alien. An Australian alien.” And what do aliens do? They make music, of course. To prove it, McKee (formerly of the indie-rock band Snowman) has announced that his sophomore solo LP will be released by Baby Race records on September 14; we are also happy to premiere the first video from the album, for the song “A Yolk He’d Never Seen.”
An Australian Alien was written and recorded over several years in a variety of locations, including a barn in Los Angeles (where McKee is currently based), a Marijuana plantation in Northern California, and on board of a cargo ship crossing the North Pacific ocean. The subject matter of the album revolves around the cycle of life and death, so to say: the birth of McKee’s daughter and the death of a dear friend of his — two events that happened in close proximity to each other and shaped the record to a great degree.
“A Yolk He’d Never Seen,” on the other hand, is about “getting your comeuppance and really feeling the karmic consequence of behaving like an asshole” in a romantic relationship gone awry. To make the point pretty explicit, the video shows McKee getting an actual egg cracked on his head; and, as we’re about to find out, it is only the beginning of the truly karmic treatment about to come his way.
You can pre-order An Australian Alien through your favorite music streaming platform (ya hear me?), Bandcamp. Watch the video for “A Yolk He’d Never Seen” below:
An Australian Alien tracklisting:
01. A Pixelated Conversation
02. Joe’s Wild Imagination
03. A Yolk He’d Never Seen
04. I Want To Be Your Wife
05. I’ll Be Your Host
06. On An Amniotic Ocean
07. Outside The Flesh Machine
08. Requiem For That Mouse
09. Polysong For Juniper