Jack Colwell
Australian singer-songwriter (1989ā2024) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jack Colwell (26 October 1989 ā 3 October 2024) was an Australian singer-songwriter.[1]
Jack Colwell | |
|---|---|
Promotional photo of Colwell, 2020 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 26 October 1989 |
| Died | 3 October 2024 (aged 34) |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Piano, vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2012ā2024 |
Early life
Colwell attended the Conservatorium High School at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.[2]
Prior to launching his solo career, Colwell worked behind the scenes in the Australian music industry, assisting Karen O with her performance of "Stop The Virgens" at the Sydney Opera House in 2012 and arranging vocals for Architecture in Helsinki.[1] He also had a band called Jack Colwell & The Owls.
Career
Summarize
Perspective
Colwell attracted attention in August 2015 when Rolling Stone Australia premiered the video for his single "Don't Cry Those Tears".[3]
The song topped AMRAP's Metro radio chart for four consecutive weeks[4] but programmers at Triple J told Colwell, who was 25 years old at the time, that "Don't Cry Those Tears" sounded 'too old' to be played on the station.[5]
In late August 2015, he self-released his first solo EP, Only When Flooded Could I Let Go.[6]
In September 2015, Colwell appeared at Newtown Social Club as part of Rolling Stone's "Live Lodge" concert series.[1] In November 2015, ARIA-winning singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko announced that Colwell would be the main support act on her 2016 Australian tour.[7]
In August 2016, Colwell released When The World Explodes,[8] an EP featuring remixes of songs from Only When Flooded... by HEALTH, Fennesz, Roly Porter, Ash Koosha, Rabit and Marcus Whale.
In October 2016, Colwell played a sold-out hometown show at the Sydney Opera House with a string ensemble.[9]
Work with Patrick Wolf
In 2018, Colwell accompanied cult singer-songwriter and former Burberry model Patrick Wolf at Wolf's career-spanning Australian comeback concert.[10] The pair reunited in January 2020 for a sold-out run of Wolf shows in London,[11] with Colwell contributing arrangements and multi-instrumental accompaniment.
Swandream
Colwell self-released his debut album, Swandream, in 2020.[12]
Produced by Sarah Blasko, Swandream was acclaimed by critics: NME declared it "an utterly visceral listen with immediate impact"[13] while The Guardian said "Colwell and Blasko have built a full-immersion tale that is both theatrical and real."[12]
BrooklynVegan called Swandream "a record loaded with lush, moody ballads and soaring anthems"[14] and Junkee crowned it "the fieriest and most beautiful album of the year so far".[15]
Swandream ranked #5 on NME's '25 Best Australian Albums of 2020' list.[13]
Prior to the album's release, Colwell shared a collaboration with Owen Pallett, "I Will Not Change My Ways".[16] The song was recorded in one take while Colwell was in Pallett's native Toronto. An alternative version appeared on Swandream.
A track from the album, "In My Dreams", was remixed by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins.[14] Guthrie's version appeared alongside remixes by Joel Amey of Wolf Alice and Australian musicians Rainbow Chan and Marcus Whale on the EP Swanlux.[17]
Literary work
Colwell wrote essays for The Guardian,[18] Kill Your Darlings[19] and others, and delivered talks at the National Young Writers' Festival[20] and the Emerging Writers' Festival.[21]
Advocacy
In November 2016, Colwell released the song No Mercy in honour of deceased Australian teenager Tyrone Unsworth.[22]
In September 2017, Colwell programmed and performed at Unity: the Equality Campaign concert at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney with Sarah Blasko, Killing Heidi, The Jezabels and others.[23] Proceeds from the event went to Australian Marriage Equality, a registered charity advocating for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia.[24]
Personal life and death
Colwell was born three months prematurely on 26 October 1989.[25][26]
Colwell was gay;[27] after his death, his friend Gen Fricker described him as "out and flamboyant at 14."[28]
Colwell was a survivor of childhood domestic abuse, as described in the Swandream song "The Sound of Music."[29] [12] He wrote that the events "destroyed the innocence of my childhood and drained the sense of fantasy and wonder from my youth."[30]
Colwell was a noted Tori Amos fan. In 2017, he told Double J: "What I love about Tori is that she made the piano cool."[31]
In his 2015 Kill Your Darlings essay Ears with Feet: Life Among the Tori Amos Super Fans he wrote: "I had allowed her music to save my life during a time when I saw no way out. When you yourself are a teenager struggling with your sexuality, who was also raped by a stranger, listening to the work of Tori Amos can be pretty powerful stuff."[19]
References
External Links
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