Record Store Day 2023: Peking Duk With Darren Hayes, Underground Lovers Announce Exclusives

Record Store Day 2023 is fast approaching, with its once-a-year chance to dig for gems.

This year’s goldmine includes a special Peking Duk release, a 7″ reimagined version of Savage Garden’s “I Want You,” featuring the pop duo’s singer Darren Hayes.

“‘I Want You’ is one of the most iconic songs in history,” says Peking Duk’s Adam and Reuben.

“Growing up we would play it back-to-back along with all of Savage Garden’s catalogue of incredible music. We had an idea to remix ‘I Want You’ so that the song can be re-introduced again, especially to the world of clubs and dance music.”

Record Store Day, that annual treasure hunt for one-off releases and special editions, and a celebration of independent music retail, is set for April 22, 2023.

Special, limited-edition releases from Bluey, Ball Park Music, Close Counters, Confidence Man, Underground Lovers, and more will be racked at independent music stories around the country for RSD, which returns for a 16th year.

The Undies will release their 1999 album Cold Feeling on wax for the very first time, just for RSD.

Don Bartley has mastered the recording for vinyl, which will be available in white and clear editions.

“We have been releasing a lot of our early albums on vinyl over the last couple of years and ‘Cold Feeling’ was next in line,” says founding Underground Lovers members Glenn Bennie and Vincent Giarrusso.

“It has never been released on vinyl before so this is such a thrill. We are so grateful that it can be part of Record Store Day in 2023.”

Music fans can also track-down hundreds of exclusive pressings by Ella Thompson, Forest Claudette, GUM / Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Hugo Basclain, Ocean Alley, Polish Club, Penny Ikinger, and Winterbourne and others.

Kicking off in 2008, RSD is a global campaign designed to welcome music fans to come browse independent retailers and spend some cash.

Its aim is “to spotlight and give back to the passionate folk behind the front counter, who share access, knowledge, and an undying love of the world’s best music,” reads a statement.

Moreover, “in-person Record Store Day events and activations will be held at participating stores across Australia, with many retailers offering extended trade, special deals and in-store performances amongst plenty of other fun activities.”

The music splurge typically provides a sales boom for participating retailers.

Last year’s edition of RSD, staged on April 23, 2022, saw vinyl album sales at independent record stores hit a modern-era high, according to Billboard, with 1.012 million units sold in one week in the United States via indies.

On that occasion, Taylor Swift, Childish Gambino, and The Rolling Stones were among the heavyweights putting rarities on the shelves.

This time, the official worldwide Record Store Day release list includes exclusives from the likes of The 1975, Fleetwood Mac, Dolly Parton, Maya Hawke, Kasabian Vs The Prodigy, and others.

On the day, expect a “massive day of crate-digging, exclusive RSD offers, in-store performances from local artists and DJs, artist signings and more,” organisers say.

Visit recordstoreday.com.au for more.