Breaking Away is a jubilant, victorious, uplifting experience.
Fourth album Breaking Away was originally conceived to be an EP but once completed clocked in at an explosive twenty-nine minutes following the inclusion of the most recently written song and first radio single Catfights In Bushes. Catfights In Bushes is by far one of the most energetic songs The Sick-Leaves has ever recorded. Songwriter Eksteen Jacobsz describes the lyrics as being “a metaphor for how often we get caught up in a tangle with other people and how opportunities are made or lost with respect to how you react to those encounters.”
Over the course of 2011 six tracks off Breaking Away were tracked at SABC’s M5 and Openroom studios with Darryl Torr and the remaining two tracks were recorded at Sting studios with Matthew Fink. Matthew Fink, who had produced The Sick-Leaves SAMA nominated first & second albums, mixed and produced Breaking Away. An extra track, Crying (Roy Orbison cover) was recorded during this period but is not included on the album. This cover is available as a digital download from The Sick-Leaves website with the full Breaking Away album also available to be streamed from The Sick-Leaves website.
With the album title, Breaking Away, playing around in his head, Jacobsz searched for images to personify the words and make a bold, powerful statement. He stumbled across the cover photograph online and immediately knew it was exactly the image he was looking for. Jacobsz explains his excitement at finding the photograph, “Space and especially the space shuttle program have always fascinated me. I knew the Space Shuttle program was coming to an end at the time and that it would be an even more iconic and historic picture to use for a Sick-Leaves album cover.”
After turning the volume dial a notch down on ‘Last Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairy, Jacobsz felt that he wanted to record an album that sonically combined all the elements of the previous three Sick-Leaves releases. Jacobsz asserts “Breaking Away is for me a culmination of the past 7 years’ experience I’ve gained through recording music, playing it live and living. For me it is the most enjoyable Sick-Leaves album to listen to and also the most representative of the sound I am after.
Breaking Away is the first Sick-Leaves album to only be digitally released, in line with world wide trends, and is available for sale on all major digital stores such as iTunes, Amazon, Nokia music store, locally on Rhythm MP3 store, Look & Listen MP3 store, O Music store, Band Camp as well as through The Sick-Leaves website.
Third album Last Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy was independently released in March 2010 following on from the SAMA nominated first & second albums Tunnel Vision and Stone The Crow in 2007 & 2009 respectively.
The Sick-Leaves is the solo project of Eksteen Jacobsz, who wrote all the songs for Breaking Away and recorded all the vocals, guitars and bass. Wayne Kennith Pictor laid down the drums, as was the case for the previous release.
Connect with Muse