Multi-award winning Indigenous Australian rock roots act Yabu Band have unveiled their first single in over eight years, A Cry in the Wind. The single was released on Friday, November 6, coinciding with NAIDOC Week 2020, and is also a taste of Yabu Band’s upcoming EP, of the same name, scheduled for release in early 2021.
Yabu Band, headed by Wongutha Kalgoorlie-born brothers, Delson and Boyd Stokes, emerged on the music scene in the mid-1990s and had a dynamic presence in Western Australia until 2012. The brothers have spent the years since working with remote Indigenous Australian communities and helping disadvantaged youth to understand their role in upholding long-standing Indigenous culture in the modern day.
Written earlier this year, the single, A Cry in the Wind, relates to the struggles the Stokes brothers’ ancestors faced during the time of the Stolen Generation and refers to the enduring relevance of traditional philosophies. It was inspired by one family photo in particular.
“Our family has an old photo of our great grandfather – a strong, proud man with mud locks and many tribal marks. The child his wife carries on her hip is our dad’s dad. The call of that old man, the cry of that child, the whisper in the trees – that’s our music. That’s a cry in the wind,” says lead singer-songwriter Delson Stokes.
An intimate audience will get a sneak peek of tracks from the new EP in a launch show on Saturday, November 7. Yabu Band will then perform at the NAIDOC Week Perth Opening Ceremony at Supreme Court Gardens on Sunday, November 8 before the band embark on a regional touring schedule to remote communities as part of NAIDOC Week celebrations.
Yabu Band’s A Cry in the Wind is out now. The full EP, also titled A Cry in the Wind, will be released in early 2021.
