Dr G Yunupingu’s final album ‘Djarimirri’, set for April 13 release, inspirations include Stravinsky and Philip Glass

The final album by Australia’s highest selling indigenous act, Dr G Yunupingu, has an April 13 release through Darwin-based Skinnyfish Music.

The late singer-songwriter’s longtime producer and music collaborator Michael Hohnen assert that Djarimirri (Child Of The Rainbow) is one of the most ambitious pieces of work made in Australia.

“The album aligns Australian traditional music alongside a European mainstream pop/classical tradition with complex but subtle changes and repetition in the orchestral parts,” he says.

“This album is inspired by composers from the early baroque to Stravinsky, Arvo Part and the American minimalist contemporary classical tradition of Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, Max Richter and many others to bring two worlds together.”

The record was made weeks before the artist’s death.

Hohnen recalls, “Last year we sat and listened to these recordings over and over again, from beginning to end and piece by piece, pulling them apart and putting them back together until all elements shone.

“We had finished the incredible process, preparing to release it and then we lost him.

“We had played many of the pieces live over the past few years of touring and planned how the pieces would work before we recorded them in the studio.

“He was immensely proud of what we achieved on this album and it is an emotional experience for all of us to present this final enormous chapter in his story with this musical statement.”

The track ‘Djolin (Musical Instrument)’ has been released as a single.

The album comes just before the April 25 cinema release of Paul Williams’ documentary Gurrumul, which received a standing ovation at its international premiere at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival.