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Inshalla
Studio album by Eskimo Joe
Released	29 May 2009 (2009-05-29)
Recorded	October – November 2008
Studio	Studios 301 (Byron Bay, Australia)
Genre	Alternative rock
Label	Warner
Producer	Gil Norton
Eskimo Joe chronology
Beating like a Drum (2007) Inshalla (2009) Ghosts of the Past (2011)
Singles from Inshalla
"Foreign Land" Released: 6 April 2009 "Losing Friends Over Love" Released: 26 June 2009 "Don't Let Me Down" Released: September 2009

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Herald Sun
Rolling Stone

Inshalla is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band, Eskimo Joe, released on 29 May 2009. The first single from the album is "Foreign Land", which was released in April 2009. A special limited edition 2CD release of the album contains live versions of songs from their previous album, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, and is only on sale in the band's home state of Western Australia. The album debuted at number one on the Australian ARIA Charts.

Background

In an interview with Australian radio station Triple J, lead singer Kav Temperley explained his choice of an Arabic word for the album title.

It basically translates to 'what will be will be' but the literal translation is 'God willing'. It's a really beautiful Arabic word and it basically means a resignation to fate, like you're kind of letting the chips lie where they will. The people in the Arabic world use it all the time, they use it for like, 'who knows?'

— Kav Temperley

Inshalla explores a very different sound for Eskimo Joe. The band have mentioned that they were at a stage where they wanted to do something different musically and also in their personal lives.

I had a real moment when in Egypt with our manager and I kind of had to make a decision whether I wanted to jump further off the precipice of being a rock star or just be Kav again and go back home to Fremantle. And that's basically what I chose and that's where the stories from the album came from. The album starts off at that moment and goes in to a more – I hate to say it – hopeful place.

— Kavyen Temperley

In an interview Joel Quartermain explains

With the last record we wanted to write an album that was very distilled and every song sounded like it came from that record, whereas this time we just went in a bunch of different directions. It's all over the shop. We didn't try to think about it too much as we did last time. It is much less sculptured. It is the heaviest thing we've done, but the album also has the most gentle music we've made as well.

— Joel Quartermain

Production

The band has been in the studio since 2008 working on new material. Two early demos during the recording sessions were leaked onto YouTube. The band later confirmed that they were only released on the site for a maximum of 24 hours. The songs were titled "Childhood Behaviour" and "Losing My Mind". During a live performance the title of the album was announced and so was the first single.

The band decided not to produce the album themselves, as they had for previous albums, instead engaging Gil Norton (The Pixies, Foo Fighters, Gomez). A producer that the band had always dreamed of one day working with.

Gil's sensibilities are pop and one of trimming all the fat and leaving what's essential. It was a nice dream-come-true moment thing after so long.

— Joel Quartermain

The album was recorded at Studio 301 in Byron Bay, New South Wales.

"Foreign Land" was created from an eight-second sample of traditional Turkish music that the band looped and added drum parts to. The song was written as a tribute to Australian actor Heath Ledger, who died in January 2008. The album's middle eastern flavour also extends to the title track, "Inshalla", which was written by Temperley while he was travelling around Egypt with the band's manager.

Inshalla is the first Eskimo Joe album to be released in Europe, as a result of the band's signing with the European arm of Warner Music Group. Whilst the album will also be released in the United States the band intends to concentrate on Europe, after having recently toured there.

Promotion

During the week of the album release, Eskimo Joe played a limited-access 30-minute set for only 200 fans in Sydney's George Street Apple Store as part of the iTunes Live from Sydney series. The performance will be available to purchase as a downloadable EP through the iTunes Store.

The band have played a special preview concert coinciding with the album launch on 29 May for fans from their home town in Western Australia in the Astor Theatre, tickets were given away by Nova 937 as a competition.

The band has planned a national tour to promote the album, for the second half of 2009.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009, the album was nominated for the ARIA Award for Album of the Year.

Track listing

Personnel

Eskimo Joe

Personnel per booklet.

• Kav – vocals, bass, keyboards
• Stu MacLeod – guitar, vocals
• Joel Quartermain – guitar, drums, vocals

Additional musicians

• Anne-Louise Comerford – strings ("Childhood Behaviour")
• Phillip Hartl – strings ("Childhood Behaviour")
• Andrew Hines – strings ("Childhood Behaviour")
• Hugh Jennings – accordion ("Please Elise")
• Lee Jones – guitar ("Please Elise")
• Andy Lawson – vocals ("Don't Let Me Down")
• Paul Millard – horns ("Losing My Mind")
• Steve Parkin – vocals ("Losing Friends Over Love", "Don't Let Me Down", "Losing My Mind", "Please Elise")
• Shaun Luke Sibbes – percussion ("Losing My Mind"), whistling ("Morning Light")
• Mark Underwood – horns ("Losing My Mind")
• Claire White – whistling ("Morning Light")

Production

• Dave Bascombe – mixer
• Andy Lawson – post-production engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Jimi Maroudas – engineer
• Mathematics – design
• Adrian Mesko – photography
• Gil Norton – producer, mixer
• Pablo Verduga – assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly chart

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2009 (Australia)

References

1. Coyte, Matt (July 2009). "Inshalla – Eskimo Joe". Rolling Stone Australia. ACP Magazines. ISSN 1320-0615.
2. ^ "Eskimo Joe on the Arabic meaning of Inshalla". Triple J Music News. abc.net.au. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
3. ^ Hanna, Jay (26 April 2009). "No Average Joe". The Sunday Times. Perth, WA: News Limited. ISSN 1442-9527.
4. ^ "Local Songwriters – Eskimo Joe". Mushroom Music Publishing. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
5. Te Koha, Nui (19 August 2009). "Eskimo Joe write Foreign Land as a tribute to Heath Ledger". News.com.au. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
6. ^ "Home". Eskimo Joe. eskimojoe.net.
7. "iTunes Live from Sydney – EP: Eskimo Joe". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
8. "Hype Escalates Over Eskimo Joe Inshalla Release". crushable.com. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
9. Mengel, Noel (8 October 2009). "ARIA Awards 2009 nominations a musical mixed bag". The Courier Mail. News.com.au. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
10. "Inshalla: Online And Wa Only". sanity.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
11. Discogs.com (14 July 2024). "Eskimo Joe - Inshalla". Discogs.
12. "Australiancharts.com – Eskimo Joe – Inshalla". Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
13. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2009". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
14. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 16 December 2014.

• Eskimo Joe albums
• 2009 albums