The Paradise Motel were a much loved and influential 90s Melbourne outfit that seemed poised to take over the "Australian gothic" mantle left behind by Nick Cave, The Dirty 3 and perhaps The Triffids. Featuring a band of black suited, moustachioed men and fronted by
the Mazzy Star-esque murmurings of reticant frontwoman Merida Sussex, the band
were admired for their careful, ghostly music as much for their
noir-ish concept.
Paradise Motel - 'Aeroplanes' from the 1999 album
Flight Paths After earning a cult following here in Australia they followed in the footsteps of their ancestors and headed over to the UK to flesh out their burgeoning careers, only to be dashed on the rocks of that ugly great ex-Antipodean dream pit. In their wake the slack was picked up by the likes of Art of Fighting, Black Eyed Susans, Sodastream and Augie March who all went on to acheive acclaim of their own. After two rapturously received albums in
Still Life and
Flight Paths and a slew of EPs, in 2000 The Paradise Motel disbanded for good.
Or did they? Post break up the band members scattered themselves far and wide, either through new projects or new jobs. And yet. Today comes a small line in an otherwise 900 word document regarding Victorian music acts who have recently received funding for projects:
The highly revered, much loved The
Paradise Motel will be finalising the
production of their third album.
There's no other news, website or mention for the band. And ostensibly there's no label, means of communication or even a band really. Curious indeed. We look forward to finding out more.
(Pics of the band seem to be almost non-existent these days. This one was found on the flickr site of one Chromadude. Thanks. Dude.)