Award-winning, multi-platinum Australian act Crooked Colours returns with Dirt Road Gold, a 12-track studio album that finds the project embracing growth, vulnerability, and creative freedom. The release marks a defining new chapter for the acclaimed electronic act, with longtime frontman Philip Slabber now leading Crooked Colours as a solo project.
Dreamy, euphoric, and deeply introspective, Dirt Road Gold expands the sonic palette that has carried Crooked Colours from the Australian indie-electronic scene to international stages. Blending house, indie dance, electronic pop, acoustic textures, and experimental production, the album maintains the project’s recognizable DNA while allowing Slabber to explore new territory.
“Every decision feels more personal. There’s no hiding behind anything, which is confronting, but also really empowering. It forced me to trust my instincts in a way I never have before,” Slabber explains.
The album follows Crooked Colours’ acclaimed records Vera (2017), Langata (2019), and Tomorrows (2022), the latter two earning triple j Feature Album honors. But rather than simply extending that catalog, Dirt Road Gold reflects a period of significant personal and artistic transition.
“This record came from a pretty transitional place in my life. A lot changed — not just musically, but personally too,” Slabber says. “Stepping into this next chapter as a solo project meant I had to really sit with myself and figure out what I actually wanted to say.”
The album opens with “Oxford,” a defining Crooked Colours composition built around storytelling and emotional restraint. Its reflective lyric — “This might be as good as it will get” — establishes the album’s introspective tone before giving way to “Pressure,” a return to the project’s house roots through piano chords, gradual builds, and intricate production details.
Previously released single “Come Thru” follows, balancing moody atmosphere with an infectious melodic hook and layered vocals. Its combination of intimacy and scale makes it equally suited to late-night listening and the festival stages that have become synonymous with Crooked Colours.
One of the album’s notable collaborations arrives with “I Can’t Forget You,” featuring Julian Hamilton of The Presets. The collaboration allows Slabber to retain the project’s signature sound while pushing its production toward new territory.
“Sometimes it’s a real grind trying to get your ideas to sound right, other times they just pour out and work. This one was the latter,” he says.
Georgi Kay joins “All Yours,” a call-and-response love song balancing desire and heartbreak, before “I Just Want To Be With You” shifts the focus toward evolving production rather than vocal spectacle.
The energy rises further on “Pink Limo,” created alongside Xavier Dunn of The Rions, Hayden James, and Jack River. The track delivers an immediate main-stage rush while maintaining the melodic sensibility at the heart of Crooked Colours. Rolling Stone Australia & New Zealand previously named it among its Best Australian Music of the Week, describing the song as an uplifting indie-dance-pop anthem with the distinctive sound associated with the project.
The title track, “Dirt Road Gold,” takes perhaps the biggest stylistic detour. Built around guitar plucks, raspy vocals, and a train-like snare rhythm, the song combines country influences with a house framework.
“What happens when your buddy dares you to write a house inspired country song? ‘Dirt Road Gold’, that’s what happens,” Slabber says.
Elsewhere, “Do Me Like That” incorporates vocals from Australian newcomer Luna and emerged from the 2025 Sweat It Out Amsterdam Writing Camp. “Moonlight” moves in a darker and more visceral direction, surrounding its emotional core with lush production before “Forever Tonight” returns to the energetic intersection of indie and electronic music that has defined Crooked Colours for more than a decade.
Closing the album, “Honey Dog” takes on a cinematic scale. Choir elements, expansive production, and a sense of emotional resolution give the finale the feeling of a soundtrack, encapsulating the experimental, hopeful, and poetic qualities that have become central to Crooked Colours.
For Slabber, that balance between evolution and continuity is at the heart of the album.
“The vision for this album was to create something that feels honest to where I’m at right now, but still connected to the DNA of Crooked Colours. It’s not about reinventing everything – it’s about evolving it. Letting it breathe, letting it grow. At its core, this record is about change – and learning to be okay with it.”
That evolution comes after years of building Crooked Colours into one of Australia’s most recognizable electronic acts. Slabber has performed at major festivals including Laneway Festival, Falls Festival, Beyond The Valley, Bonnaroo, Grooving The Moo, Spilt Milk, and Splendour In The Grass, as well as Red Rocks in Colorado.
The project’s international reach has also been strengthened through collaborations with Don Toliver, Masked Wolf, and Ladyhawke, alongside official remixes from artists including Claptone, HOSH, Kyle Watson, SNBRN, Alison Wonderland, Hermitude, and Bag Raiders.
Now, Dirt Road Gold provides the next chapter. Rather than abandoning the sound that established Crooked Colours, Slabber stretches it outward, allowing electronic production to coexist with guitars, live instrumentation, country influences, atmospheric songwriting, and deeply personal storytelling.
The album will also make its way to the stage, with Crooked Colours set to embark on an Australian tour beginning in October. The run includes Freo.Social in Fremantle, Metro Theatre in Sydney, Northcote Theatre in Melbourne, Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide, The Triffid in Brisbane, and The Northern in Byron Bay.
With Dirt Road Gold, Crooked Colours turns a period of uncertainty into its most personal artistic statement yet — a record about change, self-discovery, and finding the confidence to let an established sound grow into something new.
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