The destruction and severity of bush fires were felt in a large way across Australia this past summer, although the volatility of bush fires are something that regional Melbourne rapper Cooper has had to deal with regularly.
Based in Gembrook, the talented young lyricist was a neighbor to the ferocious Bunyip State Park fires of March 2019, and in turn, penned his latest release ‘Next Summer‘.
“We were all on high alert and we would sit up on a ridge and watch the water bombers fight it from a distance. So as all that was happening it inspired me to write this,” said Cooper on the 2019 Bunyip bush fires.
Although the heart-wrenching record stands at a lyrically concentrated six-and-a-half minute run time, Cooper says the track “came together so easy. I probably spent more time trying to figure out a chorus more than anything.”
While the framework of the song was inspired by the too-close-to-home fires of March 2019, the stories laced within ‘Next Summer’ came to Cooper “after looking into the 2009 Black Saturday fires.”
“[They were] arguably the worst fires we’ve had in Victoria, as 173 people were killed in the one day. I found some really chilling true story’s about that day and I based it all on that.”
Listen to the gripping new record for yourself below.
You can stream ‘Next Summer’ on our Fresh Oz Fire Spotify playlist here