Restless Dream

Announcing Restless Dream, an album collaboration between Kamileroi elder Bob Weatherall and Brisbane band Halfway, with William Barton, set for release on August 27 via ABC Music.

Back in 2015, Halfway and Bob Weatherall began work on the writing and recording of an album of songs and stories. This album tells the story of the Repatriation of Aboriginal Ancestral Remains. Aboriginal ancestral remains and secret, sacred objects are scattered across the globe, in museums both overseas and in Australia. In Aboriginal religious law, there will be no spiritual peace until the dead have been returned to the place of their birth and received their last rites in accordance with their traditions.

Restless Dream is a very personal story, yet it touches all Aboriginal Nations as they grapple with the task of repatriation and reburial, just as it acknowledges those who have taken on the task of uncovering the past and advocating for the Rights of the Dead.

Bob Weatheralll and William Barton have long been friends of Halfway. Bob would join band practices, listen to them play, and share the summer nights and his stories.

"We have a responsibility to uphold the fundamental rights of the dead to return to the lands of their birth, and to be given customary last rites in accordance with their culture and beliefs. Restless Dream will help to put an end to the injustices of the past in the true spirit of reconciliation and justice," explains Bob Weatherall.

"My ears sought out Bob's words in the dark, the stories of his work: travelling to the other side of the earth; the arrogance and thievery of scientists and protectors; the overwhelming emotion of this job. A job which chose him. A tricky job, full of negotiation, responsibility, righteous successes, and disheartening failures. And he was burdened with an overwhelming question: Who is going to carry this work on?" says John Willsteed, Halfway.

The first track to be lifted from Restless Dream is the immensely powerful and haunting Bloodlines, a Halfway song that has been completely reimagined with Bob's spoken words parts.  Discussing the single, John Willsteed says, "This was the first song that came from those nights listening to Bobby's voice in the dark. The idea of nature telling a story - "time and trees don't lie". The stories filtered through the band, and this music came out. Bobby did Bloodlines live with us before we recorded the album, and William would join in if he was around – we saw a clear path forward."

Restless Dream was recorded at QUT in Brisbane in 2016, by Yanto Browning (Kate Miller-Heidke/Art of Sleeping) and mixed in South Carolina by Mark Nevers (Yo La Tengo/Bonnie "Prince" Billy/Lambchop/Jason Isbell). It is a blend of songs, stories, and instrumentals; like a Halfway album and then some. The album will be performed for the Brisbane Festival, Sunday September 19, at The Tivoli.