Debut album from Jack Quigley

Melbourne-based composer and independent artist Jack Quigley is building a musical world through collaboration, cultural exchange and a genre-agnostic style. Describing his approach as ‘Anarcho-Pop,’ Jack places collective creativity at the centre of his work, bringing together musicians from different backgrounds and musical traditions to create something that goes well beyond a conventional solo project. His most ambitious undertaking thus far, The Upstream Trilogy, captures this philosophy on an expansive scale, transforming a journey across continents into a three-album project shaped by 55 musicians, eight languages and 12 recording studios.

Recorded between 2020 and 2023, the 27-track trilogy arose through a process that took Jack across four continents, travelling from Australia’s central deserts to Cairo, Barcelona, Palermo, Beirut, Djibouti and Addis Ababa. By not treating these locations as simple stops along a creative itinerary, the project brings together the people and perspectives encountered along the way. Its defining characteristic is the space it creates for different artists to contribute their own identities, allowing the music to develop through exchange as opposed to remaining tied to a single creative vision.

The journey began in 2020 at the Warnayaka Art Centre in Lajamanu, situated in the Tanami Desert on Warlpiri and Gurindji Country. There, Jack recorded an original demo with East Kimberley Jaru elder Johnny Tchooga, whose song “Mardoowarra Ngaringa / Riverside Woman” became the starting point for the wider project. That initial session mapped out the collaborative context that would guide the trilogy over the following three years, setting in motion a creative process that would eventually reach beyond its Australian origins.

The recording has also developed a life of its own; since Jack and Johnny first captured the demo at Warnayaka Art Centre, it’s clocked several thousand spins on SoundCloud, offering an early indication of how a collaboration based in a specific place can find listeners beyond its immediate setting. Johnny’s involvement remains an important part of the project’s output, connecting its international scope to the circumstances of its beginnings and the relationships that helped bring it into existence.

Now, the first instalment titled Upstream Vol 1 introduces listeners to the larger vision behind wider triology Its international contributors include Somali-Australian artist Qare The Mask, Ethiopian artists Nina Girma and Kamuzu Kassa, Egyptian artist Toqa El Hagrassy, and Spanish artists Carmen Lancho and Queer Indigo Barry Brandon. Alongside these collaborators, the album features Australian artists including Kaine Mauri, Skinny Lips and Johnny Tchooga, creating a meeting point for musicians whose distinct experiences and perspectives contribute to the ongoing project.

Set up by “Coming into Land” featuring Skinny Lips, the rustle of drums and bright flash of colourful instrumentation serves up a minute long intro piece where spoken word style vocals glide above playful instrumental flutters before “DHUNKASHO (Kissing)” lands as a bouncy jam brimming with pattering drums, intricate synth touches and soft vocals featuring Qare The Mask, delivering a danceable outing that perfectly captures Jack’s creativity and collaborative spirit.

“Cairo Streets” forms with hazy guitar tones and the flicker of plucked tones, crafting a moody scene that progresses with shuffling drums and jazz-inflected instrumentation to offer a grooving instrumental jam. “Addis Ababa” sees Jack link up with Kamuzu Kassa and Nina Girma, with the artists twisting the idea of a ‘new flower’ into a stunning outing packed full of alluring melodies, soulful vocals and warm instrumentation. Other highlights on the record include songs like “Andalucia,” featuring Carmen Lancho, Vernau Mier, Marc Monka and Sahraaoui, where stuttered rhythms, smokey sax and brooding tone combine to deliver an engrossing musical experience.

Collaborating with Kaine Mauri on “True Name,” Jack leans into a more pop-focused setting to lay down a breezy jam where catchy vocal leads float above tapped drums, delicate guitar plucks and warm instrumental textures, offering a charming musical moment that’s impossible not to love. Closing the record with Skinny Lips, featuring the artist of the same name, the album closes with a hurried flurry of keys, rolling drums, bright tones and sparse vocalisations, offering an engaging finale to Jack Quigley’s new album.

Upstream Vol 1 represents the beginning of a much larger musical journey and what started with a recording session in the Tanami Desert has since bloomed into a multi-year exploration of collaboration across continents, languages and musical perspectives. With the first instalment of The Upstream Trilogy, Jack Quigley opens the door to a project built on shared creativity, showing how a single recording session can become the starting point for an extraordinary sonic voyage that brings together an array of artists in spectacular fashion.

Listen to Upstream, Vol. 1 below