"terra nullius"Year: 2018
Country: Australia
City: Sydney
Label: Resist
Foormat: LP
Tracks: 13
Time: 26 min.
Genre: rock
Style: Hardcore
Sydney’s very own hardcore offering Homesick are back with a bang, with an eleven-track onslaught that really packs a punch. Teaming up with producer, Jay Maas (Verse, Defeater, Bane, The Carrier), it’s clear that the five-piece have high hopes for their second LP in transcending to the next level. The result is gloriously powerful; representative of the captivating ferocity they’re now notorious for. But it’s not just the pace, or even the sound, that’s caught our attention - it’s the messages contained within, too. Don’t speak Latin? You’re forgiven. Terra Nullius literally translates to “no man’s land”, or land belonging to no-one. It’s a fitting title for an album which so scathingly delivers an on-point commentary on the issues Indigenous Australians regularly face, speaking so candidly on the darkness of colonialism that’s so often whitewashed and overlooked. Tracks like Never Ceded and Nura deal with ancient spirituality and culture of Aboriginal Australians, while lamenting the freedom of these people that was stolen; their stories lost.
It’s ambitious to comment on such deep matters, but Homesick are clearly an ambitious band. There’s certainly growth on display here, taking listeners on an informative - albeit emotive - journey with this, their sophomore record. There’s an array of cards being laid on the table, too; ranging from grief, mental illness, and suicide, to domestic violence with the track Burdens. It’s political as well, demonstrating that this is a band aware of their surroundings, not just in the context of the music industry, but also as Australians. Despite all of this, there’s a certain duplexity present - at the heart of the music there’s a balance, and the result is clarity emerging from all the anger and sadness.
With melodic moments, raw aggression, and sheer passion resonating both lyrically and vocally, here we have a band worth taking note of - if for nothing else than their pertinacious resistance to silence in every which way. (*Review by Claire Louise ).
