Sunset Suburbia is the fourteenth studio album by Australian rock musician, Diesel. The album was announced on 4 May 2020, alongside the release of the single "On the Inside", and was released on 28 August 2020.[1] The album was preceded by two extended plays released in 2019.[2]
Following the release of Sunset Suburbia, Diesel will support the album with a tour.[3]
Background and release
On 11 June 2019, Diesel released the song "By the Scars", the first track taken from the Sunset Suburbia project: a trilogy of EPs leading into an album in 2020.[4]
On 2 August, the first EP titled Sunset Suburbia Vol. 1 was released with Diesel saying "For me, records have always been a little overwhelming. When I think back I've had panic attacks. When you are taking on something so big and then get through it, ironically when I get through it, I feel bummed when it comes to an end. Like, can't we just make it go a bit longer? The EP thing elongates the process and suits my lifestyle a bit more. It suits me creatively a lot more too". Diesel confirmed that EP one and two is complete adding "Every EP is like a mini album with a relativity between the songs. I do like to mix it up a bit with different styles. The next one is a lot different, it's not as Americana as the first one, it has an English feel".[5]
On 8 November 2019, the second EP Sunset Suburbia Vol. 2 and single "In Reverse" were released and confirm that volume 3 was "under construction".[6]
In May 2020, the single "On the Inside" was released and the album release date of August 2020 was confirmed, abandoning the third EP.[1]
About the title, Diesel said "Suburbia has always held a strange fascination for me. I remember designer cul-de-sacs strewn with shotgun shells in Chandler, Arizona; little vignettes of skateboarding around closed service stations on weekends in Perth, Australia; some guy in the hot tub in his backyard where I'm riding my bike over the rail overpass in Sydney. I love going into where people live — the sights, the smells, the little repetitive things that make their world. It's kind of a bittersweet thing but it's the stuff of life and it has a way of making songs."[7]
The album includes the tracks "By the Scars" and "Wake Up with an Angel" from Sunset Suburbia Vol. 1 and "In Reverse" and "Quietly Drift" from Sunset Suburbia Vol. 2.
