Timeless, poignant and beautiful, ‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ sounds like classic Everly Brothers meets Beatles wrapped inside a western movie soundtrack – and yet it is unmistakably Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham! Their voices weave together and tell the tale with emotive precision as the narrative builds from delicate to defiant over the course of the song.
‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ is almost a prequel to Felicity and Josh’s #1 ARIA debut album The Song Club, which told the beautiful story of new beginnings and new love, and earned them 4 x Golden Guitar award nominations. Stopping short of venturing into the gory details, ‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ winds the clock back to reveal the less than beautiful landscape that the unexpected pairing of Felicity and Josh emerged from.
Written from inside his own dark days during that period, the song chronicles Josh’s reflections on the slow process of healing from trauma to almost wholeness as the broken bits leave wounds, wisdom and the determination to begin again. As the song says, “It’s better to have loved and left than never to have left at all”, and sometimes leaving is the only loving outcome for everyone involved – sometimes the only thing to do is learn your lessons, move on, and have faith that the scars you carry will carry you forward to the new beginning.
While walking along a black sand beach at that time, Josh noticed a solitary white gull feather surrounded by the vast expanse of black sand. The feather looked pure and beautiful in its whiteness but also bleached and windswept from the elements. But rather than appearing like a white flag of surrender, it seemed to convey resilient defiance to the darkness that engulfed it. The image was so striking that it became the inspiration for not only the song, but also the path forward – a path that ultimately led him to Felicity who was in her own process of venturing forward from the world of darkness that had enveloped her in the wake of her late husband’s passing.
In spite of its weighty origins, ‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ is truly uplifting and serves as a mantra for anyone who needs to move forward and leave the dark behind. With a follow up full length album to come in August 2023, ‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ provides a tantalising glimpse into what’s in store from Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham.
Multiple Aria and Golden Guitar award winning producer Matt Fell came on board as the perfect partner to help Felicity and Josh realise their vision. The all-star rhythm section of Matt himself on bass and Josh Schuberth on drums, thickens up the sound and makes a solid bed for Josh Cunningham’s electric guitar, high strung guitar and tenor banjo to lay in, adding texture and sophistication to the distinctive sound that the couple make.
‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ was recorded at home on the Central Coast of NSW. Josh Schuberth added drums at Burning Mountain Studios in the Blue Mountains of NSW and Matt Fell added bass guitar, percussion and mixed the song at Wilder Studio in Tasmania. It was mastered by William Bowden at King Willy Sound, also in Tasmania.
Deciding who was best equipped to visually capture the essence of ‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’ was an easy choice. Long time friend and collaborator, Duncan Toombs of The Filmery, masterfully tapped into the balance of fragility and strength in the lyric. Felicity and Josh are presented in black and white, standing out against the darkness like solitary white feathers on a black sand beach. The occasional feather float’s serenely through shot, and the close-up colour vision of the guitar playing provides contrast and speaks to music’s healing power to bring life back to colour following a season of bleak blackness. The clip was shot at The Filmery studio in Gosford with the assistance of 10-year-old Eliie, who did a superb job of releasing the feather to the breeze that drifted poignantly through the clip.
‘Unsteady (Ever Since You’re Gone)’, the new single from Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham is out now through ABC Music.