Capricornia (album)

Writing and recording

On the two previous albums Breathe (1996) and Redneck Wonderland (1998), all tracks were credited Midnight Oil; on Capricornia the band returns to crediting individual contributors for each track, with Moginie dominating the list as is seen on most of their records.

After the hard rock/industrial electronic sounds of the previous album Redneck Wonderland, on this record Midnight Oil moved to a stripped back sound, with acoustic and clean electric guitars dominating the sound of the album (Golden Age, Luritja Way, Under the Overpass), although some tracks (Too Much Sunshine, Mosquito March, Poets and Slaves) feature significant distorted guitars. These latter tracks also feature distorted vocals. The album also features a short piano solo track (A Crocodile Cries) in the middle of the record, the melody of which is reprised for the album closing Poets and Slaves.

The album was produced, mixed and arranged by Warne Livesey, who also worked on Midnight Oil's seminal Diesel and Dust and Blue Sky Mining records. The bonus track Say Your Prayers, which appears on US versions of the album and was one of the four new tracks on The Real Thing, was produced by the band and Daniel Denholm.

Name and concept

The name and concept of Capricornia was taken from the novel of the same name written by the Australian author Xavier Herbert. The name Capricornia refers to part of the Queensland coast and inland region around Rockhampton, which is close to the Tropic of Capricorn.

Release

The album was issued in a digipak case, first released in 2001; the U.S. release date was 19 February 2002. By this time, the band had already begun playing a few gigs in America. A callout label on the original US version sealed album correctly but somewhat confusingly states there are 11 new tracks (there are 12 tracks in all but only 11 were new; Say Your Prayers was issued on The Real Thing not very long before) and also states that the album contains "Golden Age" and "Too Much Sunshine," the initial singles. "Mosquito March," the third single, was not released at the time. Another single, Luritja Way, was issued at a later date. (picture of sealed CD)

A DTS version was released in 2002, still before the last two singles for the album.

The European edition contained two bonus tracks, a cover of "Pub with no beer" and "Kiss that Girl". The latter is the last all-new song the band released. To date, the European version of Capricornia remains the only official release to contain this song.

Personnel