Tea & Sympathy (Bernard Fanning album)
| Tea & Sympathy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Bernard Fanning | ||||
| Released | 31 October 2005 | |||
| Recorded |
Real World Studios, Bath, England May 2005–June 2005 Leafy Bug Studios, Brisbane, Australia July 2005 |
|||
| Genre | Alternative rock, country-folk | |||
| Length | 46:41 | |||
| Label |
Dew Process (AUS) Lost Highway (US) |
|||
| Producer | Tchad Blake, Bernard Fanning | |||
| Bernard Fanning chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Tea & Sympathy | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Age |   |
| Australian Broadcasting Corporation | (positive) |
| Allmusic |  |
| BBC | |
| musicOMH | |
Tea & Sympathy is the debut solo album by Australian musician Bernard Fanning. It was released on 31 October 2005 by Dew Process records while Powderfinger—Fanning's main band—were on hiatus. Contrary to Powderfinger's usual alternative style, the album blends alternative and country-folk music. Most of the record was written after the cancer related death of his brother in 2002. His brother's death coincided with the end of Fanning's twelve-year relationship with his partner and both events were instrumental in his move away from his typically political and socially lyrical subject matter.
Fanning recorded four songs at his home studio in Brisbane and the rest at Real World Studios near Bath, England. Fanning worked with producer Tchad Blake in both sessions. To support the album's release Fanning toured Australia twice and performed across North America and the UK.
"Tea & Sympathy" topped the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) albums chart and won three awards at the 2006 ARIA Awards, as well as an APRA Award and a J Award.
After the 2004 release of Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994-2000, Powderfinger took a hiatus, and several members played in the side projects Drag and The Predators. Fanning decided to work independently and acted on direction he felt unable to explore as a member of Powderfinger. Some of his inspiration was derived from a will to see if he was capable of recording a solo album, considering what he viewed as his limited guitar playing abilities; compared to bandmates Darren Middleton and Ian Haug. The distance from the band, coupled with the more relaxed writing process for Tea & Sympathy helped Fanning to unwind from the stress leftover from 10 years working recording and touring with Powderfinger.
...
Wikipedia