Shut Up And Listen to Cameron Hons' New Album

 

 

 

 

2023 has been shaping up to be a very busy year for Australian Comedy Rock musician Cameron Hons. Having released 2 solo albums previously "You Can't Get Arrested" and "Rockin' In The Library" he returns once again whether you like it or not with a batch of brand new songs giving it up to his 44th solo album in his 20 years of original and independent music making. Shut Up And Listen was recorded only within 2 days, and during a difficult time when Cameron was suffering from a severe Bronchitis infection. In some songs you can actually hear he was sick during the making of the album but the songs still sound raw and great as ever.

The album starts off with the hard hitting track "Shut Up And Listen". You don't need to ask any questions or think twice about whether you want to hear this album or not. Just shut up and listen to it. Next up is the album's potential lead single "Too Good To Be Bad", a track aimed at many of Cameron's unwanted critics either on the internet or in real life. It doesn't matter if you hate what he does, he is too good to be bad, and doesn't care about what you say anyway. Cameron does not normally focus on releasing singles, but the track "Too Good To Be Bad" was turned into a 6-track maxi single EP. Certainly a rarity for Cameron Hons, who prefers making full length solo albums. 

"Nothing On The Internet Matters" should be the national anthem of the internet. The internet is filled with too much negativity and hate and stupid stuff. None of that matters. People's opinion online don't matter. Nothing about it all matters and this song tells it like it is. Go about your day without worrying what goes on on the internet. "Good Fences Make Good Neighbours" is a very philosophical song about preventing annoying neighbours from bothering you. The best solution is to make good fences or block their view so they can stop being annoying. It is one of the most poetic and strictly meaningful songs Cameron has ever made and is so true. 

"That Sounds Very Elitist" deserves to be another hit. It's about the Sonic The Hedgehog Online Community and how bad it is, and how all of the major Sonic Fan Sites are super elitist. Cameron has seen this nonsense first hand over the years and has had enough of it. It's time to expose them all. If you're a dumb Sonic fan site you probably won't like this track! 

An outstanding song on the album is "Negative For Covid But Positive For Excellent" where the clean-sounding 80's riffing guitars sound excellent fitting in a great groove all while Cameron was sick and you can kind of hear it. Thankfully, he didn't test positive to Covid. But he tested positive for Excellent instead. Once again on this album Cameron plays all the instruments himself. 

"Baby Photo Blues" is a lengthy but enjoyable gritty blues number about how people on Facebook often like to upload an endless barrage of baby pictures and why not everybody cares about them. Sadly the Facebook news feed is filled with lots of junk that you don't care about and it isn't really worth checking out. Baby Photo Blues is a real relateable song that you can play if you are being bothered by stuff like that on the internet.

"You Don't Need To Prove Yourself" is another gritty sounding blues song, about Cameron's critics once again, or if you have critics too, you don't need to prove yourself to them because either way they won't care. Sometimes Cameron's music making methods get him in trouble or shunned because he simply enjoys recording and playing differently and he sometimes sees stupid people trying to lecture him about doing things like this and that. Rock and Roll was never about following the rules or going to school. It's about playing music and having fun. Do things your own way. Don't care about what the others say. 

Sometimes you might think to yourself that there's nothing in the news today. That's where "There's Nothing In The News Today" comes in. Sometimes you get nothing but garbage on the news. Right now it's endless consistent sport articles about the Matildas. Not everyone likes football and not everyone likes the Matildas, But media doesn't care and they love sharing article after article about stuff that you don't care about even when it isn't important. Imagine all of the real news they are missing out on while they are endlessly covering nonsense like sport too much. Or when the world's richest couple wins the lottery again. Who cares about any of that stuff. That kind of information isn't news. 

The album ends with the sombre but rhythmic acoustic number "If It's Not Disney". Disney used to be a reputable animation company. I would say the best peak of Disney was the 90's - early 2000's. They are famous for their animated classics from 1930's - present day as well. But recently it seems that lots of people have just been getting fed up with Disney movies. Whether it be endless Marvel movies, flat Pixar films, or big budget box office bombs (I'm talking about you, Indiana Jones 5) - or worse - STILL going through remaking animated classics in modern age live action form, rewriting scripts and censoring scenes to fit in with today's backwards sense of cancel culture. 

Cameron Hons' new album will leave you with wisdom to think about the state of the world today and why is everything so messed up. But thankfully we have people like Cameron who enjoy making songs truthfully and to the point about why things today are like the way they are. Sure it isn't all terrible. But Disney needs to learn from this!

Shut Up And Listen is out now from July 25 2023 on Bandcamp and CD. Click here to listen to it! If you enjoyed tha album, you can buy it online for only $7 digitally. 

Also, check out the maxi-single of Too Good To Be Bad, which includes 2 remixes not on the original album!

Cameron Hons: SHUT UP AND LISTEN
Release - July 25 2023

01. Shut Up And Listen
02. Too Good To Be Bad
03. Nothing On The Internet Matters
04. Good Fences Make Good Neighbours
05. That Sounds Very Elitist
06. Negative For Covid But Positive For Excellent
07. Baby Photo Blues
08. You Don't Need To Prove Yourself
09. Nothing In The News Today
10. If It's Not Disney
11. Shut Up And Listen (Instrumental Version)
12. That Sounds Very Elitist (Instrumental Version)
13. Baby Photo Blues (Instrumental Version)
14. Negative For Covid But Positive For Excellent (Instrumental Version)
15. Shut Up And Listen Album Promo

Still not convinced ? Check out this great album review & promotional interview by Australian Radio Broadcaster Darren McErlain. Don't delay, shut up and listen today!