The Avalanches' 16-year album delay was caused by autoimmune diseases

by Jeremy Mersereau

July 5, 2016

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Clearing samples with Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono probably contributed to the wait too.

The Avalanches, Australian crate-diggers and sample-hunters extraordinaire, have finally returned to rock parties, stupefy WhoSampled.com users, and make copyright law offices work overtime.

It’s been an interminable 16 years since they left us with the still-incredible Since I Left You in 2000, and their long-awaited sophomore effort, Wildflower, is coming out worldwide on July 8th (Apple Music users can stream the album right now).

Like its predecessor, Wildflower was preceded by a strange, addictive earworm of a first single, this time making use of a 1947 sample from calypso artist Wilmoth Houdini. Also like its predecessor: the rest of the album is an evocative, arresting masterpiece. The Avalanches even managed to convince Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono of their respect for their music with a carefully-worded letter, and got a sample of The Beatles’ “Come Together” cleared for Wildflower… which Biz Markie then raps about food over. And that’s only one of the two McCartney samples on there. Check out a detailed breakdown on Triple J.

So what was the cause of the 16-year delay? According to a new Pitchfork interview with Avalanches member Robbie Chater, it was partly because he was diagnosed with autoimmune diseases. “There were also three years in the mid-2000s when I was really unwell,” Chater says. “I was diagnosed with a couple of separate autoimmune diseases, so I was out of action.”

Of course, any popular sample-based act is also going to have much of their time eaten up with legal wrangling, and according to Chater, Wildflower was no different:

“As far as samples, they started clearing stuff years ago, but then there would be some hold-up and they’d have to go back and renegotiate. People would give permission for us to use the sample, and then a certain amount of time would elapse and they would Google who the band is and be like, ‘Oh shit, I can ask for more money.’ That sort of thing took forever.”

Whatever the reasons were behind the Avalanches’ long absence, it was worth the wait.

Tags: Music, News, paul mccartney, the avalanches, The Beatles, wildflower, Yoko Ono

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