Jack Colwell is an Australian singer-songwriter.Coyte, Matt (11 September 2015).
Five Things You Need To Know About Jack Colwell.
' Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

Early life

Colwell's mother was a concert pianist. He attended the Sydney Conservatorium of Music High School. Prior to launching his solo career, Colwell worked behind the scenes in the Australian

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

, assisting Karen O with her performance of "Stop The Virgens" at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

in 2012 and arranging vocals for Architecture in Helsinki. He also had a band called Jack Colwell & The Owls.

Career

Colwell attracted attention in August 2015 when Rolling Stone Australia premiered the video for his single "Don't Cry Those Tears". The song topped AMRAP's Metro radio chart for four consecutive weeks but programmers at

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

told Colwell, who was 25 years old at the time, that "Don't Cry Those Tears" sounded 'too old' to be played on the station. In late August 2015, he self-released his first solo EP, ''Only When Flooded Could I Let Go''. In September 2015, Colwell appeared at Newtown Social Club as part of Rolling Stone's "Live Lodge" concert series. In November 2015, ARIA-winning singer-songwriter Sarah Blasko announced that Colwell would be the main support act on her 2016 Australian tour. In August 2016, Colwell released ''When The World Explodes'', an EP featuring remixes of songs from ''Only When Flooded...'' by

HEALTH Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, Fennesz, Roly Porter, Ash Koosha, Rabit and Marcus Whale. In October 2016, Colwell played a sold-out hometown show at the

with a string ensemble.

Work with Patrick Wolf

In 2018, Colwell accompanied cult singer-songwriter and former Burberry model Patrick Wolf at Wolf's career-spanning Australian comeback concert. The pair reunited in January 2020 for a sold-out run of Wolf shows in London, with Colwell contributing arrangements and multi-instrumental accompaniment. Recalling the first time he attended a Wolf concert, Colwell said: "I was 17 and had a fake ID. I was really struck by how remarkable his singing voice is. I was blown away."

Swandream

Colwell self-released his debut album, ''Swandream'', in 2020. Produced by Sarah Blasko, ''Swandream'' was acclaimed by critics:

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

declared it "an utterly visceral listen with immediate impact" while

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

said "Colwell and Blasko have built a full-immersion tale that is both theatrical and real."

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...

called ''Swandream'' "a record loaded with lush, moody ballads and soaring anthems" and

Junkee Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...

crowned it "the fieriest and most beautiful album of the year so far." ''Swandream'' ranked #5 on NME's '25 Best Australian Albums of 2020' list. Prior to the album's release, Colwell shared a collaboration with Owen Pallett, "I Will Not Change My Ways". The song was recorded in one take while Colwell was in Pallett's native Toronto. An alternative version appeared on ''Swandream''. A track from the album, "In My Dreams", was remixed by Robin Guthrie of the

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

. Guthrie's version appeared alongside remixes by Joel Amey of Wolf Alice and Australian musicians Rainbow Chan and Marcus Whale on the EP ''Swanlux''.

Literary work

Colwell has written essays for

, Kill Your Darlings and others, and delivered talks at the

National Young Writers' Festival The National Young Writers' Festival (NYWF) occurs annually in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, over the New South Wales' Labour Day Holiday Weekend in late September/early October. It is the country's largest gathering of young ...

and th
Emerging Writers' Festival

Advocacy

In November 2016, Colwell released the song ''No Mercy'' in honour of deceased Australian teenager Tyrone Unsworth. In September 2017, Colwell programmed and performed at ''Unity: the Equality Campaign concert'' at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney with Sarah Blasko, Killing Heidi, The Jezabels and others. Proceeds from the event went to Australian Marriage Equality, a registered charity advocating for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia.

Personal life

He was born three months premature.Groves, Nancy (10 December 2015).
Claudia Karvan murders Jack Colwell in music video for Coat – exclusive premiere.
' ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 1 March 2016. Colwell is a noted

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

fan. In 2015, Kill Your Darlings published Colwell's essay ''Ears with Feet: Life Among the Tori Amos Super Fans.'' In 2017, Colwell told Double J: "What I love about Tori is that she made the piano cool."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwell, Jack Australian indie rock musicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian male singers Australian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Australian singer-songwriters