Briggs has released his first single of the year, ‘Shadows’, featuring country singer-songwriter Troy Cassar-Daley.
The new single is an adaptation of Cassar-Daley’s 2018 track ‘Shadows On The Hill’, and stitches together the song’s chorus with original verses from Briggs. The new work picks up where the original track left off, reflecting on the Aboriginal massacres that have been carried out since colonisation.
“As a kid I’d often remember rumours about what parts of Melbourne were old ‘graveyards’. Which I guess is a way to explain a massacre site or to reconcile it for young ears. Where the bodies dropped they built a fuckin parking lot,” the rapper said in a statement.
“Australia has a hard time acknowledging its truth. There’s a partial map of massacre sites in the artwork. It’s documented; it’s factual.
“The first war began in 1788. It had all the symptoms of a war. There were opposing nations, a clear objective of taking land, everything in it and the expansion of the Crown. Australia enjoys its cherry-picked history.”
Listen to ‘Shadows’ below:
‘Shadows’ will feature on the new two-part ABC series Going Country, which follows host Justine Clarke as she visits locations that have influenced the creation of country music in Australia. The series premieres on November 2.
‘Shadows’ follows on from Briggs’ 2020 EP ‘Always Was’. Speaking to NME last year, the rapper said his next album is currently in the works.
“We’re just refining it. COVID really put a dampener on stuff, because we’re getting some guests – and you’ve gotta shoot videos and stuff. You have to figure out how to do that. So it’s taking a little bit extra.”
“I don’t wanna drop the new album for the sake of it – I wanna do it properly,” he added. “We’re just trying really to get the roll-out together – and just everyone else’s time together as well so we can finish it off.”