Bad//Dreems Release New Single ‘Shadowland’, Alongside Short Film Series
Bad//Dreems’ Shadowland is the first of a series of singles to be released on their newly minted label, Gutto Records, and the band’s first new music since their acclaimed 2023 LP Hoo-Ha!. The accompanying music video depicts a protagonist disconnected from himself and the world around him, and the search for a deeper sense of connection and meaning. It’s the first in a series of clips that will comprise a short film to be released in early 2026, directed by Kaius Potter and filmed around the northern fringes of Adelaide and beyond.
Coming off the back of their sold out 10th anniversary of Dogs at Bay tour, Shadowland finds Bad//Dreems as vital and powerful as ever. In part inspired by the bands tour through Arnhem Land, it was recorded earlier this year with producer Dan Luscombe (Amyl and the Sniffers, Courtney Barnett) at Mixmasters Studios in Adelaide.
On the meaning behind the song, Alex Cameron explains that “Shadowland refers to the ever-present feeling that there is a world around us that remains unseen and unfelt. We really only see the shadows of the true country on which we live – fleeting glimpses through the veneer that has been laid down in the past 250 years. Travelling through Arnhem Land stripped away so much of this and exposed us to a country and culture that was vast, vivid and overwhelming, leaving the abiding feeling that we don’t really know anything about the true heart of this country. Shadowland is also about the Jungian shadow: the deeper aspects to our personality which we are aware of but often never truly know. It’s about trying to break free from the constraints placed upon us, and placed by us, to get better in touch with our world and selves”.
Revered as one of the most vital guitar acts in the country, Bad//Dreems have come a long way from their humble origins in an Adelaide whitegoods warehouse in 2012. Produced by Mark Opitz (AC/DC, INXS, Cold Chisel, The Angels, Divinyls), their debut album Dogs At Bay picked up nominations for an AIR Award (2015), National Live Music Award (2015), SA Music Awards ‘Best Live Act’ (2015), SA Music Awards ‘Best Release’ and ‘Best Group’ (2016) and was included as an honourable mention in Rolling Stone’s Greatest Australian Albums of All-Time. They drew plaudits from such diverse luminaries as The Avalanches and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (At the Drive In) both of whom chose the band as their Australian support act. Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens declared their song My Only Friend “a masterpiece of Australian Rock”. The band followed this up with critically acclaimed albums, Gutful, Doomsday Ballet and Hoo Ha!, the latter of which garnered a nominated for ARIA’s ‘Best Rock Album’, placed at #2 on Double J’s 50 Best Albums of the Year and earned them a nomination for Double J Artist of the Year.
As well as taking inspiration from the isolation they felt growing up in the suburbs of Adelaide, Bad//Dreems’ song writing aims to strip away the veneer of comfortable Australian suburban life to reveal the bizarre, the dark, the twisted and the beautiful that lies beneath. With authenticity at its heart and a desire to challenge the status quo, Bad//Dreems capture the confusion and anger of their protagonists eking out an existence in today’s world (Cuffed & Collared, Low Life, ‘Northern’), the suburban ennui (‘Desert Television’, ‘Hoping For’) and the terror of the angry (often male) mob (‘Mob Rule’, ‘Bogan Pride’). Whereas many of their contemporaries project their righteous anger outwards at the subject of their malcontent, Bad//Dreems vocalist Ben Marwe steps into the shoes of the protagonist, imbuing the songs with a unique cathartic quality – particularly evident in their live show.
Their notoriety as an unmissable live act has seen them tour extensively across Australia, UK and the US, with Bad//Dreems recently taking their Dogs At Bay 10th Anniversary Tour around the country to play the seminal songs that have left such a lasting impression on their fans. When Dogs At Bay was released in 2015, it exposed the raw, unfiltered soul of Australian suburban malaise and masculine vulnerability in a way that few albums at the time dared to. With its gruff guitars, defiant swagger and undercurrent of existential yearning, Dogs at Bay wasn’t just an album – it held a mirror up to a certain aspect of Australian psyche. Beyond its sonic punch, the album’s deeper impact lies in its legacy: it gave permission for a new wave of Australian rock to be both literate and loud, introspective yet raw and rough, paving the way for acts like Amyl and the Sniffers, The Chats and Pist Idiots, and the resurgence of pub rock as a vehicle for storytelling. As guitarist/songwriter Alex Cameron said at the time “We wanted to show that it was ok to like football and poetry.”
Bad//Dreems have also vehemently voiced their support for truth telling and the recognition of the ongoing mistreatment of Aboriginal people, demonstrated by Dogs at Bay closer Sacred Ground and the anthemic Jack which deals with the whitewashing of Australian history, as well and their iconic triple j Like A Version cover of Warumpi Band’s ‘Blackfella/Whitefella’ featuring Peter Garrett, Emily Wurramara and Mambali.
The band’s 2023 tour through Arnhem Land with Jabiru group Black Rock Band, and their performance at the 50th anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk-Off at Kalkarindji’s Freedom Day Festival, played a large role in the inspiration behind Shadowland and their upcoming music.
Gutto Records ushers in a new beginning for the band, following on from band members Alex Cameron and Miles Wilson appearing on ABC 4 Corners episode Music for Sale in late 2024, where they discussed the difficulties many artists face to survive in the current industry. Now fiercely independent, Shadowland will mark the second release on Bad//Dreems own label, after their first release, the Quality Meats live album, sold out in just two days.
BAD//DREEMS SHADOWLAND IS OUT NOW VIA GUTTO RECORDS
