CLAIRAUDIENCE - THE CLUELESS HITCHHIKER - Vinyl LP

THIS IS A PRE-ORDER FOR APRIL 27 RELEASE.

The Clueless Hitchhiker has its origins in a real journey. In 1989, Daniel Jumpertz and his friend Chris Smales were 25 years old and hitchhiking across Europe, alive to the world but uncertain of their place in it. Passing through Amsterdam en route to Berlin, Daniel snapped a photo of Chris that would become the album artwork, three decades later. Reflecting on that younger self and his travelling companion, Daniel wrote Bombs In The Distance (Berlin 1989), and with it the line that names the record: "You are the clueless hitchhiker, Remember Berlin Nineteen Eighty Nine." Present yet wandering, the hitchhiker becomes the lens through which Clairaudience examines modern existence: alienation, atomised identity, psychological struggle, and the persistent human search for meaning. That search is reflected in the music itself.

The Clairaudience sound draws from diverse influences across decades of left-field rock and power pop, synthesising elements from local icons The Go-Betweens and Sunnyboys to '77 period Talking Heads, Television, and even early Velvet Underground, creating a musical identity that's both familiar and distinct. Clairaudience's twenty-year evolution traces a journey from experimental improvisation to sophisticated explorations of contemporary life. Founded in Sydney's inner-west in 2006 by married couple Daniel Jumpertz (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Caroline Jumpertz (drums), the band began as an improvisational outfit and house band for their Feral Media label with a philosophy of "ego-less" collaboration. Camber, a track from their debut, was described by Cyclic Defrost as "Joy Division on AutoSummarise: ominous, whiplash drums and dirty guitar form an instrumental loop so audacious in its imitation that it's kind of great." 

In 2010, Daniel and Caroline relocated to New York City, recruited new bandmates and refined their approach toward catchier, song-based indie and power pop while maintaining their experimental sensibilities. This period yielded two releases. A cassette (Sun Damage) and their self-titled second album, both recorded with Abe Seiferth (Yeasayer, Car Seat Headrest) in Brooklyn. Based in Williamsburg, the band gigged across Manhattan and Brooklyn and toured the U.S. East Coast.

Returning to Australia in 2016, Daniel and Caroline settled in Melbourne. During the 2020-21 lockdowns, they recruited Daniel's brother Mick Jumpertz on bass and OG hitchhiker Chris Smales on guitar. Chris and Daniel have been friends for more than 50 years, sharing their first band experience in Melbourne's early '80s underground with Tuna Fish Wreck, and developing over decades an intuitive musical communication that runs deeper than technique. That chemistry — marriage, sibling bonds, and a half-century friendship at its core — gives the band an organic cohesion that mirrors the album's own preoccupations: the possibility of true connection in a fragmented world.

Exclusively pressed in Australia to Heavyweight Red and Yellow handpour, with our signature Obi strip individually numbered 1/50.

Only on Impressed.

Pre-order for release on April 27th.