After 7 years on the road... in hotels, in foreign mud, strewn packets of guitar strings, bags full of hotel keys, flight stubs and stickers on gear cases that map a zig-zag of touring across just about every continent on the globe....

...After 7 years solid on the road with TBG, the Blackbird tapped on Mat McHugh's window with a handful of songs that felt close to his heart but out of pace with The Beautiful Girls.

Then it tapped on his ribs; a motorcycle accident saw some cheap Los-Angeles-Hotel recovery time. It saw him strip the songs down, take some time sitting still, and record his first solo album. A soulful unwinding, and a timely look back to the early TBG. With just an acoustic guitar and a band of transient ruffians borrowed from Sydney's jazz scene, he took to stages around the country and played his songs, up close and personal. It was a transitional period, a chance to linger in the rear-view mirror for a while, before looking up to see what lies ahead; not the beginning or ending of anything.

"We were always going to do another T.B.G. album," says McHugh, "the band now have a definite sense of direction and we are working-on from where we were at."

The Beauti... (+) expand

After 7 years on the road... in hotels, in foreign mud, strewn packets of guitar strings, bags full of hotel keys, flight stubs and stickers on gear cases that map a zig-zag of touring across just about every continent on the globe....

...After 7 years solid on the road with TBG, the Blackbird tapped on Mat McHugh's window with a handful of songs that felt close to his heart but out of pace with The Beautiful Girls.

Then it tapped on his ribs; a motorcycle accident saw some cheap Los-Angeles-Hotel recovery time. It saw him strip the songs down, take some time sitting still, and record his first solo album. A soulful unwinding, and a timely look back to the early TBG. With just an acoustic guitar and a band of transient ruffians borrowed from Sydney's jazz scene, he took to stages around the country and played his songs, up close and personal. It was a transitional period, a chance to linger in the rear-view mirror for a while, before looking up to see what lies ahead; not the beginning or ending of anything.

"We were always going to do another T.B.G. album," says McHugh, "the band now have a definite sense of direction and we are working-on from where we were at."

The Beautiful Girls, kick-started with a full-throttle, sold out tour of Brazil and huge shows at this year's Splendour In The Grass, Blueprint and Sounds of Spring Festivals, have begun work on the follow-up to 2007's Ziggurats. The rest of 2009 will see The Beautiful Girls writing songs and demo'ing for the new album, due out May 2010, on home soil, in between special appearances at festivals around the country.

With the electric plugged back in, the band is ready to deliver on the promises made on We're Already Gone and Ziggurats. "With the next album I want to be able to bring the whole thing together" Mat explains "to make sense of the music on all the previous albums."

The whisper is that TBG will drop a new single into the pool very soon so keep your eyes peeled!

It has begun again. (-) collapse