McAlister Kemp Break Down Every Track On New Album ‘We Roll On’

Today, our ‘Centre Stage’ artist of the week, McAlister Kemp have released their long-awaited fourth studio album, We Roll On. Recorded between Nashville and Sydney, the album features the lead track, After The Breakdown, and current single, Paid For Drinking Beer.

Drew McAlister says, “We are so excited to share this album. After so long between releases it feels pretty cool to finally have something out there into the universe.”

“We’ve stuck to that classic MK sound and those distinct themes that worked so well for us in days gone by,” Troy Kemp adds. “We Roll On is a collection of 10 songs, from upbeat party vibes to mid-tempo singalongs, down to the heartfelt ballad or two.”

McAlister Kemp remains one of the most successful Australian country acts of the last decade. From the immediate, breakout success in 2010 (which saw them take home the award for ‘New Talent of the Year’ at the 2011 Golden Guitars) through to 2015, the duo earned their stripes as one of the highest selling and most loved touring acts in Australian country music.

Their three highly acclaimed albums – All Kinds of Tough (2010), ARIA Award-nominated Country Proud (2012) and Harder to Tame (2014) – produced numerous #1 video and airplay hits including Country Proud, Hell Yeah, It Don’t Buy You Love, Harder to Tame, Fight Me and All Kinds of Tough. They have toured extensively, playing to big crowds on large festival stages, and opening for the likes of Adam Brand and international acts Alan Jackson and Big & Rich.

The powerhouse duo commence the ‘We Roll On Tour’ in Tamworth tonight, their first tour in seven years, taking to stages from QLD, through NSW, and into Victoria, playing their much-loved hits plus a stack of this brand new music.

We’re so delighted to bring you this exclusive track by track, as McAlister Kemp talks us through each individual track: the creation, sentiment, and everything in between.

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1. After The Breakdown

After The Breakdown is a song about finding the courage and strength to move forward after hard times or a tragedy. Essentially a time in someone’s life that tested their faith, their beliefs. Be it the loss of a loved one, a broken heart or even a global pandemic ATB is a list of positive affirmations to help with finding hope, getting back on your feet and back on track. 

2. Wondering 

Wondering is basically a song based on that old saying, “I don’t want to die wondering.” It’s a song about chasing your dreams, living life 100%, leaving no stone unturned so that you don’t get laid to rest with a big old ? on your tombstone. It’s about getting to the end of your life and not looking back with regret about things you wish you had done.

3. Ice Cold Beer         

Ice Cold Beer is the one and only song on the album that we didn’t write. We borrowed this one from Nashville. It definitely felt like a song that was up our alley and we had to record it. It’s pretty much a song about beer and the situations it becomes a part of. Beer is where courage is formed to approach that guy or girl, it’s the foundation on which all great parties are had, it’s always present at the table of knowledge where people think they know everything about everything and it’s that liquid gold that creates some of the best times you’ll never remember. 

4. When You See Me  

When You See Me is definitely more of a serious song that deals with issues of mental health and depression. It’s about how you can’t take for granted how a person might be feeling in their life and that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Sadly, a lot of people suffer in silence and for them it is very debilitating... It’s a song that we hope will give people the courage to speak up and reach out for help if they need it. 

5. Paid For Drinking Beer 

The quintessential MK party song. It’s the song about the guy in the bar thinking about his exhausting day in day out, 40-hour week job and how well suited his credentials would be if he actually had a job that paid him for drinking beer. A guy that has actually had so much experience drinking beer that he would be an overachiever if he got paid to do it.

6. I Got You 

This is the brand-new single out this week with the release of our album We Roll On. It’s a song about assuring somebody that no matter what the situation, the hardship, the challenge, or the adversity that you’ve always got their back, that you will be their rock and that you will 100% be there for them. 

7. Nothin’ To Complain About 
      

Nothin’ To Complain About is a song about being grateful for and appreciating all you have in your life and not taking it for granted. It’s about counting your blessings that you have a roof over your head, a few bucks in the bank, a few beers in the fridge and family and friends that love you. 

8. It Was Always You 

It Was Always You is essentially a song about someone telling the one they love that for all they’ve been through and all they continue to go through, that there is not another soul in the universe that they would rather go through those ups and downs with. It’s an undeniable certainty that they have always been and will always be the love of their life and given the chance to do it all again they wouldn’t change a thing. 

9. Play Up, Show Up

Another good time, upbeat MK party song. It’s essentially a Friday afternoon middle finger to the boss. It’s when you’ve got plans to party hard on the on the weekend and you get that little reminder from the boss to show up to work on Monday because life is full of responsibilities that need to be met. 

10. The Coin   

We actually wrote this song about six years ago and somehow it found its way onto this new album. We started the lyrics on a napkin in a pub in Albury after picking up a beat-up old coin off the table we were sitting at and started talking about the places that coin might of been and how we could relate that to our own lives and experiences.

To quote the first verse:

A little rough around the edges
A little hard to read
It’s done a lot of miles
Yeah, this coin’s a lot like me

Essentially, it is a beautiful metaphor using a coin to describe a person’s journey. 

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Keep up to date with McAlister Kemp on their Facebook page here.