Nothing Left to Lose
Release Date: July 21st, 2023
Sydney, NSW alt-country and Australian Americana artist Chris Carrapetta is extremely pleased to announce that his second solo album, Nothing Left To Lose, will be released on vinyl, CD and digital on July 21st.
From a young age, Chris Carrapetta was raised on a steady diet of Neil Young courtesy of his musician father, who taught his son the basics of the guitar from the age of 10. That passion for music continued through high school as Carrapetta majored in musical performance for his HSC before studying audio engineering and writing, recording and playing live around Sydney in the late 90s with the indie rock band The Guilde.
The folk and country duo that followed found him moving into the local alt-country scene influenced by Whiskeytown, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. As is the way with so many groups, things didn’t last, and eventually Carrapetta began to set the foundations for a solo career. In the early to mid 2000s he recorded his first solo album, Getting It Wrong, eventually released on Bandcamp in 2017, and an EP called ‘I’m Not A Stranger‘.
Now, in 2023, Carrapetta is set to release his most fully realised and personal album – Nothing Left To Lose.
Over the last 24 months, Chris Carrapetta has released three singles in the run-up to the release of the new album this July. In many ways, these singles have been the introduction of the singer, songwriter and guitarist to a wider audience, even though he’s spent a large part of his life obsessing over music – continually honing his craft and refining his melodically-rich approach to alt-country and Americana songwriting.
‘This Is Not The End‘ was the first single off the album, dancing on an upbeat, push-and-pull of guitars before blossoming into an uplifting chorus that Lukas Nelson would be proud of. “I think this song is about not giving up hope on achieving what you want even when it seems hopeless and impossible,” Carrapetta reflects.
‘Golden Light‘, written with Loretta D’urso, possesses a warm and comforting sway, augmented by some beautiful pedal steel, harmonica and rich CSN-styled harmonies. The song captures the moment “when you see the person you have fallen in love with in a way where they just seem perfect in every way,” explains Carrapetta. “In the early stages of most relationships sometimes you don’t see the flaws that we all have. At those moments in time everything about them is golden.”
‘Making Me Smile (On The Marrickville Mile)‘, the most recent song written for the new album, is in homage to the part of Sydney that Carrapetta now calls home, after a stint living in the Blue Mountains after the breakup of his first marriage. “It’s about a fun night out in Marrickville with someone who I ended up dating and us making our way along Marrickville road in the wee hours,” reminisces Carrapetta.
Post To Wire said of the single, “there’s a wonderful and wistful Wilco meets Big Star vibe going on as Carrapetta hits an instantly hummable chorus over those big ringing acoustic chords.”
Musically Carrapetta draws on the rich history of folk rock and country music. Avoiding the cliches of commercial country music, he’s found his home in the established yet still expanding alt-country and Australian Americana scene. His songs are laden with melodic vocals, rich layers of keyboards and guitars that have the hooks of indie rock and the swagger and twang of Wilco and Jason Isbell.
The songs range from the shimmering guitar chime of opener ‘Can You Help Me Out‘, with it’s Lennon-esque feel, to the Jayhawks-like urgency of ‘I Hope It’s Not Too Late‘ and the jangly, power-pop backbeat of ‘Caught Out In The Rain‘.
Like so many songs on the album, ‘One Day At A Time‘ showcases Carrapetta’s soaring, high register voice – capable of evoking both heartache and elation in the way it blends melody and melancholy. ‘Hard Times‘ is one many fine examples of the album’s key theme of renewal and emotional resurrection following the end of a relationship.
Thematically, the album documents that universal journey towards finding your own authenticity, owning it and being able to express that without fear of judgement or rejection. “The title Nothing Left to Lose is mostly about expressing the idea that once you get to a certain point in your life where you stop caring so much about what people think about you and who you are, it’s about feeling comfortable in who you are in your own skin and feeling less that you have to try hard to fit in or be someone you are not,” explains Carrapetta.
“The songs that I wrote for this album are mostly about what was happening around a certain time in my life. Firstly, my marriage ended and I found myself reflecting on the how that came about and some of the challenges of the aftermath of that period. I also found myself in new relationships and some of that energy and freedom and hope I was feeling is captured in these songs too.”
Troubled times are documented across Nothing Left To Lose but ultimately Carrapetta has his heart set towards an optimistic new horizon on this world class collection of songs.
