Kookaburra (album)

Kookaburra is the eighth studio album by Australian band the Whitlams, and first under the name the Whitlams Black Stump. It was released on 8 March 2024. The album was supported by the 25-date Kookaburra tour, commencing in March 2024. In May 2024, the tour was extended by an extra 20 days.

About making a country album, lead singer Tim Freedman said "I am a parochial lyric writer, and country music has a strong sense of time and place, so clothing my stories in a country music coat seemed like a natural progression to me, I had to scratch that itch and investigate."

Reception
In an album review on Sunburnt Country, Sophie Hamley acknowledged the risk the group took by re-recording their songs into a different style. Hamley said "What is also profoundly clear – in a way that it wasn’t on the earlier recordings – is that Freedman is a really lovely singer." Hamley closed the review saying, "This is an album made by experts and the listener is rewarded accordingly. Freedman's high-stakes gamble has paid off, and old fans will no doubt mingle with new as he takes these songs to people all over the land."

Track listing

 * 1) "Man About a Dog" – 4:07
 * 2) "No Aphrodisiac" (Black Stump) – 2:59
 * 3) "Fallen Leaves" – 3:44
 * 4) "In the Last Life" – 4:39
 * 5) "The Day John Sattler Broke His Jaw" – 4:47
 * 6) "You Sound Like Louis Burdett" (Black Stump) – 4:14
 * 7) "Your Boyfriend's Back in Town" – 3:23
 * 8) "Nobody Wants to Be You" – 2:06
 * 9) "There's No One" – 3:35
 * 10) "Blow Up the Pokies" (Black Stump) – 3:43
 * 11) "50 Again" (Black Stump) – 3:21
 * 12) "Witness Protection Scheme" – 2:57
 * 13) "Birds" – 4:54