Songs > East West Link > History


For decades, the concept of the East West Link has been shrouded in controversy. The proposal is meant to link two Melbourne roads (the Eastern Freeway and the Western Ring Road) through an eighteen kilometer tollway to alleviate congestion. However, the project has been stalled due to a number of factors including legal issues and opposition by a number of groups who see it as a multi-billion dollar project that deprives money from public transport development, destroys land, and may not even work. Despite being about Melbourne’s proposal, the song “East West Link” comments on humanity’s dedication to road travel and infrastructure over the environment, and the attitudes of those supporting the destruction, who argue that it’s fine because nobody will see the harm they’ve caused. It's a largely acoustic track that starts with flourishes of guitar, harmonica and percussion before heading into a highly rhythmic jam that introduces sitar and double bass.

The studio version was played by Ambrose (percussion/keyboards/harmonica), Cavs (drums/percussion), Cook (piano/synthesizer/double bass) and Stu (vocals/guitar/bass/flute/sitar). The song was recorded by Stu and Cavs. Mixing sessions for the song were included in KG LW MIX SESH. Stu is credited for the final mix. It was released as the sixth song on L.W. on February 26th. 2021.

“East West Link” made its live debut on 2021-02-23 at the Croxton Park Hotel in Naarm (Melbourne) during the band’s first post-lockdown show. It would then be played at five other fully microtonal shows in 2021. The song would return for a few performances on the band’s 2022 US tour, with some coming out of “Static Electricity”, as on L.W.. Since then “East West Link” has only appeared a few times.

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