Sugarlips could be the best Oz Pop / Rock album you’ve never heard.
20 years ago Zoran Romic, Leanne Kingwell and Darren Danielson, alumni of bands Chocolate Starfish and Happy Gas Stare, formed a band, wrote some songs, signed a major record deal and recorded the self titled album, Sugarlips. It was produced by the late great Mike Shipley who was fresh from recording tracks for Green Day and The Corrs.
In April 2000 Music Network described Sugarlips as:
“Sexy and addictive. Perfect pop brimming with delicious, fuzzy guitar jangles, quirky keyboard stabs, delivered with bubbly finesse. In a league of its own and headed straight for the top of the international pop tree.”
So, what went wrong?
“Murdoch bought Festival/Mushroom literally on the eve of our album drop and the beancounters immediately slashed the Mushroom Artists roster and vetoed any new releases” Leanne Kingwell recalls. “Sugarlips just sort of fell between the Art versus Commerce cracks.”
“We always thought the Album deserved better,” Darren Danielson adds. “Leanne and I started thinking about releasing it ourselves after Zoran passed away in 2012. Sort of a tribute and all that. Finally we just decided to do it.”
“Yup. For Zoran Romic and Mike Shipley,” Leanne sums up. “We’ll never forget you guys.”
Find it on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music and all major digital platforms.
Feature track – In Your Bed
Song length – 2:59
Release date – 22/5/2020
Contact: info@leannekingwell.com