- The inspiring, tragic and intimate life story of David McComb, cult Australian singer/songwriter and driving force behind one of the greatest Australian bands, The Triffids.
- David McComb believed in the song. More than believed in them, he lived to write them, from his earliest art/punk pranks in '70s Perth to the darkly atmospheric brilliance of his last works, he ran at the whim of the song, from his insomniac writing jags to lost loves across the continents, they forever ran at his heels. And he grabbed them, shaped them, perfected them, and loved them. Driven? It doesn't even begin to describe David McComb, born to well-heeled medical parents in an even more well-heeled suburb of Perth in 1962. As brylcreem and walk-socks gave way to war-cries and rock'n'roll, even in sleepy Perth, McComb took it all in , waiting weeks for the sea-mailed copies of NME his punk coming of age eschewing the clichés of spiky hair and glue, coming instead via a dressing gown-clad Triffids debuting at Leederville Town Hall in 1978.
Finding as much inspiration in writers Flannery o Connor, Maria Rainier Rilke and Gertrude Stein as he did in Lou Reed, David Bowie and Perth punks The Victims, McComb's own forebears just didn't read him. "You'll never be The Beatles, so what's the point? " his Father asked. David would be his own man, hell or high water.
The Triffids blazed through Sydney, then Europe, where they cavorted through the decade as a household name at the era's festivals, surviving on their wits, their everyday lives seesawed from party to penury. With rave reviews, they roller-coastered through the '80s alongside fellow expats The Bad Seeds and Go-Betweens, creating a masterpiece in Born Sandy Devotional, with the emptiness Dave's West Australian backyard providing a canvas of sorts. McComb had truly found a new Australian voice: a poetically inspired vernacular cast against desolation, broken hearts, furious skies and lost souls in the bright expanse - expressed in a bold, timeless way that truly redefined the writing of a song. After making the elegant Calenture and the eclectic The Black Swan, The Triffids took a break that turned into forever in 1989.
But whether forging a solo career or writing poetry, McComb's contrary, conflicted and troubled breakneck creative adventure never let up. Never reticent with alcohol and substances, his health seriously faltered after the release of his solo album Love of Will, and he underwent a heart transplant in 1996. He died in February 1999, leaving a slew of unanswered questions, leaving a legacy to be discovered as one of Australia's greatest artistic hearts and minds.
Love in Bright Landscapes has been created with unprecedented access to family archives revealing what shaped the man behind the songs, beautifully restored 35 slides and delightfully evocative home movies. McComb's poetry and newly discovered letters are read by Man Booker prize winning novelist DBC Pierre (Vernon God Little, 2003), and the film brings fans old and new never-before-heard compositions including his final compositions with heart-rending interviewees with his colleagues, family and friends.
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By what name was Love in Bright Landscapes (2021) officially released in Canada in English?
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