Brendan McMahon Releases Eighth Studio Album, Turn Up The Radio, Showing No Sign Of Slowing Down

Brendan McMahon has released his eighth studio album, Turn Up The Radio, and it is a stunning collection of 11 songs that feel nostalgic and rich with emotion.

Chasing The Girls, released earlier in the year, is a pacey track, with his relatable lyrics and narrative flow creating a perfect listening experience. McMahon has a knack for conjuring a strong sense of nostalgia with all of his tracks and albums, looking upon youth with such tenderness and fondness. He can make talking to girls as a shy teen boy something relatable to us all, and feel like a song we have been hearing in our households for years.

In March, Chasing The Girls hit #1 in Australia’s Country Songs Top 40, with McMahon saying that “definitely put a smile on his face when I saw that chart”, and there are hopes that unseen tracks from the album will have similar success.

McMahon is a prolific songwriter and musician, with Turn Up The Radio being his eighth studio album in just ten years. He chalks this up to working with great musicians, extensive practice at working tirelessly to get what he wants from each track and a deep appreciation of music.

“Working with the same session musicians really adds to that familiarity and comfort factor,” McMahon told Countrytown.

“As a songwriter, you get a little bit better at caressing the songs into what you want them to be. On this album, I was spoilt for choice as we recorded about 18 songs, which is a real luxury. When the song gets where it needs to be, you can feel it. That’s the shape it needs to be in,” McMahon said.

“I don’t really follow a trend; I just put music out as I hear it in my heart. I’ve never come across anybody who tells me who I sound like, so that’s something. Turn up your radio, is high energy and immediately grasps people’s attention,” McMahon said.

“When I started writing seriously for that first album back in 2014, I really didn’t know where my heart lay as far as music genre was concerned. I was experimenting with different styles, which was driven by my eclectic music taste, anything from Black Sabbath to The Bee Gees, from Neil Young to Nirvana,” said McMahon.

Joining McMahon on the album are music artists, including Peter 'Maz' Maslen (drums), Jason Vorherr (bass and backing vocals), Simon Hosford (guitar), Danny Spencer (guitar), Jack Earle (keys), Luke Moller (fiddle and mandolin), Shane Riley (pedal steel), and Gretta Ziller (backing vocals).

The South-Australian native spoke to Countrytown prior to the release of his album, and even made mention of a ninth studio album, which could inherit the tracks left on the cutting room floor this time round, not yet ready to be released. It’s clear that McMahon is not slowed down by any process of making and releasing music, which is likely due to falling in love with music and the arts at age 14, securing his first guitar and amp by saving up until he could splurge the $60 to bring them home with him.

It’s these early life experiences that McMahon has tapped into for Tune Up The Radio, reflecting on his childhood and the kaleidoscope of feelings and memories that came with - too many to fit on an album.

“This album is about those experiences of childhood and adolescence. Thinking about childhood… it was so lovely, I just want to write about it,” said McMahon.

“My albums really have variation. I don’t stick to a formula, and if I did, I would have 10-12 songs, and only a few would hit the mark,” he said.

When it comes to hitting the mark, McMahon had already released five songs from the album, each of them charting strongly, with Outback Ball hitting #14 on Australia’s Country Songs Top 40. Outback Ball is a quintessential country strong, and while other tracks traverse the rock line, this instant hit is one for the country purists. 

Outback Ball shows McMahon’s ability to embody all the elements required to be a dynamic artist, and defies the notion that lyrics need to be complicated to strike a chord. The song is teeming with personality, with a steel guitar, banjo, fiddle, and singing about dancing with your girl at a country ball.

McMahon this morning performed Outback Ball live on his Facebook page to commemorate the release of his album.

Changing gears, the album treats us with a beautiful ballad Let’s Get Crazy, which was a collaboration between McMahon and Sally Jane. The song was heavily inspired by Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog, rooting it in Australian country flavour. Let’s Get Crazy was co-written by Felicity Urquhart and has continued to chart well since its release.

Jane is the perfect accompaniment, whom he met fortuitously at a songwriting session at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Jane is a rising star in the country music scene, although her range and maturity reflect a widely experienced artist. 

When asked how he plans to celebrate the release of his eighth album, McMahon admits that he could do more to celebrate rather than getting stuck into other projects.

“I have a really bad habit of putting something out there and just thinking forward. I have so much music I’ve written, and it takes a lot of time to put an album out. I have 2 or 3 albums of music,” McMahon said.

“I hope [with the album], they get some surprises as normal. I hope it provides some warmth to their heart,” McMahon said.

McMahon was the winner of the Tamworth Australian Country Music People’s Choice Award for Best Male Vocal in 2022. He also went on to win the People’s Choice award for Best Album in 2023 and the Best Lyrics category at the Australian Songwriters Association in the same year. Turn Up The Radio is available to purchase or stream on Spotify.