“This latest album (Don’t You Forget About Me) is a master stroke in a long and accomplished career.“
“This bloke could well be a contender for one of the top-shelf male vocalists making music in Australia right now. It’s a range you rarely hear – some have soft folk troubadour vulnerability, some have earth shattering power & vibrato; London does both -and makes it sound easy.
Extraordinary vocal prowess… his voice is an anthemic powerhouse that swirls and builds and can lift the roof off any venue” Katia Smith: Gold MX
“Simon London himself is a brilliant vocalist.. his ability to make the guitar sound great is sublime… and with the backing of the Spirits every performance is special. They’re a force to be reckoned with, both on stage and in the studio” Oliver Blazevic: Goldroom Music
BIO: the short-story long…
Songwriter, singer and guitar player – Simon London has always had different material to delve into across his various albums for live shows. However, playing in a band is his first love and so unsurprisingly, after being shelved indefinitely for over twelve years, late in 2021 Simon London reinstated his band the Spirits.
With three album releases to their name and numerous tours, the Spirits had become Simon’s main touring vehicle from their inception in 2003, enjoying radio airplay and touring frequently on both sides of the country, all the while building a loyal fan base. Then in 2009, weeks after the release of their third album, Simon left Australia to live in Sweden with his wife and the Spirits were disbanded.
Now the band has returned – albeit with a changed line-up – and are performing a swag of new songs alongside some of the key tracks from their back-catalogue. A new album – Don’t You Forget About Me – was released in 2022 and the Simon London + the Spirits returned to hitting the road with live shows and tours.
With the passing of the inaugural Spirits’ drummer –a key motivation in the band’s reformation – the new songs on their latest release Don’t You Forget About Me evocatively mine a deep vein of material around themes of relationship, loss, shared journeys and our perceptions of the world that we all move through.
The new lineup features the significant talents of great southern locals Mark Gretton (drums, percussion, piano) and Caleb Drage (bass, keys), both masters at their craft and judicious servants of the songs.
Whether with band or solo, Simon’s musical journey has had a range of chapters, spanning shows on LA’s famous Sunset Strip (The Roxy, Whisky Au Go Go, House of Blues) through to shows at remote wheatbelt pubs and most things in between.
Things started early, when the high-school band London was playing in around the pubs of Perth got picked up by US management interest and was thrown headlong into a 3-month tour of California, playing showcase gigs for the major record labels of the time. When that band disintegrated, Simon took up an offer to stay on in California and record his first solo album Soul-scars and Greenbacks.
This was a period of highs and lows, playing around California at some iconic venues but also living the itinerant challenges of the unsigned musician; immigration, homelessness, vagrancy; emerging with enough anecdotes to fill a Bukowski book. With the album released nationally upon his return to Australia, Simon returned to touring and recording, releasing a live solo album (Saturday Night Live) and then another studio album (Glorifications); essentially a compilation of demos and song ideas.
Interest from a multi-national publisher saw Simon once again head overseas, heading to Germany, the UK and New York and Los Angeles in the US. To meet the demand of publisher interest in his songs, Simon put a band together and headed back into the studio – and thus in 2003, so started the Simon London+ the Spirits band.
With the Spirits, Simon then hit the road for the next seven years, releasing three Spirits albums (via Waterfront Records) and touring continuously, west to east around Australia. The band touring was interspersed with solo tours nationally and through the US and Canada.
After shelving the band and heading overseas to Europe, Simon kept busy with other projects – ultimately recording and touring with his wife as Simon and Tammy London and then more recently as The Red Tails with Vikki Thorn (the Waifs, Thornbird).
So with his well-travelled Telecaster in hand, Simon will front the three-piece Spirits as they present the louder, rockier material of his songwriting to a venue or town somewhere near you.
Other projects:
The Red Tails
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When Vikki Thorn (The Waifs, Thornbird) hunkered down in her beach shack on the WA south coast after a cancelled US tour, she reached out to her musical neighbours – Simon and Tammy London – about getting together to sing on the front porch.
Overlooking the bay that has shaped their respective creative endeavours, the three Albany musicians found solace & inspiration in these front porch sessions & formed a new collaboration – and the Red Tails were born.
Their blend of powerful voices create big soul harmonies over songs deeply rooted in WA history and stories. Writing together was a natural progression in light of the kinship between each artist and the times they found themselves in. Their voices uplift; they sing with a deep residing joy that proves good things can come from trying times.
Debut album recorded with James Newhouse out via bandcamp
Simon & Tammy London
A collaboration with wife Tammy London – Simon & Tammy moved to Sweden in 2009 and started writing and recording together.
A swag of live shows later, they recorded a debut album ‘Don’t Leave No Light On For Me‘.
Shows are something of a rarity now, but the songs
Debut album released in 2014 through MGM.
Stream or physical copy.
Blind Ninja
Blind Ninja is a father & sons trio of Ted (11), brother Sid (13) and dad Simon.
After working up a collection of original songs together down in the shed, Blind Ninja figured it was time to bring their tunes to the world.
With younger brother Ted generally driving proceedings from his drum stool, older brother Sid on bass and Simon up front, the three musicians have been having an absolute ball writing, recording and playing together.
A 3-song EP was recorded in 2023 (when Ted and Sid were 10 and 12) kicked things off and now the band are back at it again, recording another EP due out in 2024.
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SIMON LONDON + THE SPIRITS 