COOLONAUT
Taps into the Chaos of Our Times with New Album ‘Dark Energy’
Coolonaut, originally from Scotland but now based way out in rural Australia, isn’t trying to follow trends or fit into any neat little genre box. His latest record Dark Energy comes from a place of frustration, confusion, and reflection, a gut response to how weird and dark the world’s been feeling lately. War, disconnection, people turning on each other, it’s all there in the background of the music, not always loud and obvious, but woven into the sound and feel of the whole thing.
This is his second album, following Tales from the Black Stump, which was rooted more in his life in the Australian outback. Dark Energy shifts the focus outward, it’s more global, heavier in tone, but still very personal. It’s not preachy or over-produced. Just honest.
This is his second album, following Tales from the Black Stump, which was rooted more in his life in the Australian outback. Dark Energy shifts the focus outward, it’s more global, heavier in tone, but still very personal. It’s not preachy or over-produced. Just honest.
Coolonaut isn’t working with a team of engineers or producers. He’s doing everything himself using an old 8-track analogue machine. No copy-paste, no auto-tune, no fancy tricks. What you hear is what actually happened in the room. That choice matters, you can hear the grit, the warmth, the imperfections that make it feel alive. It’s a little rough in the best way.
And here’s something else, when he’s not making music, Coolonaut works as a rural doctor. That might sound like an odd combo, but for him it’s all connected. He sees both music and medicine as deeply human, about listening, adapting, reacting in the moment. Whether it’s a patient or a song, it’s about mood, tone, and finding the right path through something uncertain.
If you’re into old-school psych rock with something to say, something that feels lived-in, not manufactured, Dark Energy is worth sitting with. It doesn’t hand you all the answers, but it does what the best records do: it reflects the world back at you in a way that makes you stop and feel something.
And here’s something else, when he’s not making music, Coolonaut works as a rural doctor. That might sound like an odd combo, but for him it’s all connected. He sees both music and medicine as deeply human, about listening, adapting, reacting in the moment. Whether it’s a patient or a song, it’s about mood, tone, and finding the right path through something uncertain.
If you’re into old-school psych rock with something to say, something that feels lived-in, not manufactured, Dark Energy is worth sitting with. It doesn’t hand you all the answers, but it does what the best records do: it reflects the world back at you in a way that makes you stop and feel something.