STEPHEN CUMMINGS COVERS FIVE DECADES OF AUSTRALIAN SONGWRITING ON NEW EP JOY
NEW RECORD FEATURES CUMMINGS’ PROFOUNDLY MOVING INTERPRETATIONS OF SONGS BY MIKE RUDD & SPECTRUM, PEL MEL, JESS RIBEIRO AND DAG, NEWLY RECORDED WITH LONGTIME COLLABORATOR ROBERT GOODGE, LEAH & ANDI SENIOR, SAM LEMANN, GRAHAM LEE, BILL McDONALD & MICHAEL DAVIS
EP RELEASED ON 12″ VINYL AND DIGITAL FORMATS ON NOVEMBER 21, 2025
LISTEN TO STEPHEN CUMMINGS “LIVING IN THE BALANCE” HERE
Cheersquad Records & Tapes is proud to announce the release of Joy, a brand new 4–track EP from Stephen Cummings, available on vinyl and digital formats from November 21, 2025.
Joy revisits songs originally recorded at various times between 1971 and 2021 by four iconic Australian acts — Spectrum, Pel Mel, Jess Ribeiro and Dag — but here they are reborn through Cummings’ interpretations, newly recorded in 2025.
Produced by longtime collaborator Robert Goodge, these versions carry Stephen’s unmistakable voice and presence, enriched by an extraordinary ensemble:
• Stephen Cummings — vocals
• Leah & Andi Senior — harmony vocals
• Robert Goodge — acoustic guitar, mandolin, keyboards
• Sam Lemann — acoustic & electric guitars
• Graham Lee — pedal steel
• Bill McDonald — bass, keyboard sounds
• Michael Davis — drums & percussion
The EP’s four tracks span five decades of Australian songwriting:
1. Living in the Balance (Dusty Anastassiou, 2021 – originally by Dag)
2. Unfamiliar Ground (Jess Ribeiro, 2015)
3. No Word from China (Jude McGee & Graeme Dunne, 1980 – originally by Pel Mel)
4. Fly Without Its Wings (Mike Rudd, 1971 – originally by Spectrum)
The result is a record that bridges generations of Australian music with fresh intimacy and resonance. The dreamy harmonies of sisters Leah and Andi Senior add an ethereal texture that lifts Cummings’ interpretations into luminous new territory. Joy is both a tribute and a reinvention, breathing new life into remarkable songs and carrying them forward in Stephen Cummings’ deeply personal style.
PREORDER JOY NOW FROM
Joy | Stephen Cummings | Cheersquad Records & Tapes
Stephen Cummings of course needs no introduction to Australian music fans – the Countdown Award and ARIA Award-winning singer and songwriter has had a long, productive, creative and distinguished career since his days up front of Sports in the late ’70s and ’80s.
What may still need an introduction however is the fact that in March 2020, Stephen suffered a life changing stroke.
In 2023, with the support and love of the Melbourne music community, Stephen released the acclaimed album 100 Years From Now, a record of beauty, of humanity, and of unflinching honesty. And gorgeous musicality. Recorded and mixed with longtime collaborators guitarist and producer Robert Goodge (Essendon Airport and I’m Talking) and producer and engineer Simon Polinksi (Steve Kilbey, Ollie Olsen), the album was a collection of co-writes that put Cummings’ post-stroke physical condition to the fore, both musically and lyrically. The effect of Stephen’s stroke on his singing added a layer of bittersweet heartbreak to his already emotive style.
The record was also the coming together of many of Stephen’s musical partners from over the years, including his longtime guitarist Sam Lemann and bass player Bill McDonald (who shares with Goodge a background in Melbourne’s post-punk scene and has more recently been Paul Kelly’s long term bass player) to current band member Michael Davis. Graeme Lee of the Triffids (and more recently of Goodge’s reformed Essendon Airport) contributed some pedal steel. These individuals, together with Goodge, and sisiters Leah & Andi Senior on harmony vocals, return on the new EP.
Stephen spoke of making music post-stroke back in 2023:
““I’ve had to accept now that things aren’t going to be the same but they can still be good and work with what I’ve got… I was always a natural singer and assumed I could just sing as long as I wanted. After the stroke, I had a lot of rehab to learn to walk and recover fine motor skills on my left side. I couldn’t really play guitar anymore. I did some vocal therapy and found my tone still good but the control and breathing the hard part. I learnt I if I sang more slowly and more quietly it sounded better. I have to focus more and keep to different parameters.”
Mark Mordue (author of Boy on Fire: The Young Nick Cave) on “Carry Your Heart” from 2023’s 100 Years From Now:
“A masterpiece of determination and love. (“Carry Your Heart”) would have to be one of the great vocal performances and songs out there. Stephen Cummings returning from a stroke, singing his heart out. The tension between what he did easily and yet with wired energy; and the strain now to do it again, seeking only release… A song like this may be a goodbye or a new beginning. You will be glad to have it enter your life…”
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