On his sophomore release, Elderflower, Australian singer-songwriter Jeff Herd takes a confident leap from the exploratory ground of his 2017 debut Boy Down into something more luminous and deeply personal.
Where his first record bounced between power pop, jazzy trip-hop, and folk, Elderflower distills those eclectic instincts into a blend of Laurel Canyon harmonies, glam sparkle, and a distinctly “cosmic Australiana” pulse.
Herd says the mission statement of this new record was simple but bold: “queer, sparkling Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with the pulse of interbeing (the interconnectedness of life).”
Built from acoustic foundations but expanded with groove-heavy percussion, layers of interwoven instrumentation, and lots of harmonies, the record is rooted in Herd’s stories from his early and later queer life.
The album opens with “Daisy Chains,” a song rooted in childhood memory and the complicated inheritance of identity. Herd recalls his father’s cattle-buyer days with a mixture of reverence and sadness, singing, “Confident cowboys branding their names / My name is his name / but are we the same?”
It’s a stunning introduction, both musically and lyrically, gentle in its melodies yet weighted with questions that linger. The track carries the sense of time softening old wounds, but its melancholic undercurrent suggests that some losses never fully recede, only shift into something quieter.
From there, Herd drifts into sun-drenched sensuality with “Long Blond Hair,” a breezy ode to surfers and seaside summers in Torquay. He pointedly describes the surfers as “sexy,” adding just the right flash of lust to the otherwise playful tone. The track shimmers with golden harmonies and a chorus that feels effortless yet irresistible, an instant highlight in both mood and melody.
The record quickly sheds its nostalgia with “Desisto,” a track that seethes with righteous fury at the climate crisis. Musically, it’s one of the album’s fiercest moments. It’s dark, driving, and unapologetically badass, built on a deep groove that Herd rides with conviction.
“Sister/brother needs all the motherfuckers to desisto,” he spits, wielding the Spanish and Portuguese word meaning “I give up” or “I desist” as both a curse and a rallying cry.
Next up, Herd eases the tempo with the dreamy “Don’t Forget the Sun,” a song that drifts into desert-psychedelia while grounding itself in a cosmic-folk sway. The dynamics pull back here, offering a moment of respite after the intensity of “Desisto,” like catching your breath beneath a sun-bleached sky.
“Tofu Daddy” struts in later with Zeppelin-esque swagger, draping desire in playful food metaphors. “Tofu Daddy, don’t drink too much / Tofu Daddy, don’t get into fights … You know I like my tofu soft and white,” Herd croons with a wink. It’s tongue-in-cheek and brimming with the kind of charisma that makes the record so infectious.
The Faerie movement becomes a recurring muse on a couple of tracks later on. “Forest of Men” is a country stomp that joyfully recalls the memory of a faerie commune workshop, and “Radical Faerie Suburbia” insists that magic isn’t confined to communes but flickers even in Melbourne’s suburbs.
The closing track circles back to socio-political concerns. “Eucalyptus Landback” fuses NOLA blues-funk brass and swampy rhythms into a demand for Indigenous rights to country. It’s the kind of finale that reasserts Herd’s belief that songwriting is not just art, but an act of witness and solidarity.
Spanning ten songs, Elderflower weaves together vibrant sounds and delicious hooks into a collection that’s as adventurous as it is irresistibly catchy. It’s an album sparkles, stomps, rages, and consoles, all the while guided by a voice with a deep sense of place and purpose.
Herd may not boast massive streaming numbers or a sprawling social media following, but that has nothing to do with talent. He’s a gifted songwriter through and through, and Elderflower is further proof that Australia continues to be a wellspring of remarkable musical voices.
Elderflower will be released in late September.
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