You expect the politicians to sit on the fence and protect their bottom line at the cost of their values. But with Midnight Oil you count on a statement as strong as "White Skin Black Heart" which the Oils released last year in the calm before the storm that broke with the Queensland elections.

"What you gonna do now" Now that you've started"/The words got out there... you're gonna leave us lying here dealing with the consequences of a bad sound"

On June 12, the word was still spreading. Peter Garrett had just emphasised his direct re-involvement in politics by announcing his re-instatement as President of the Australian Conservation Foundation after a five-year absence. There's more on his mind than the obvious political moves. He's just played a show at Kakadu, the site of the Jabiluka mine, where a few hundred encamped activists took some energy from a set performed by the Oils and Brisbane's version of the Anti-Hanson, Regurgitator.

Already, this year the Liberals' king-hits to childcare, reconciliation, education, environment and unionism sent shock waves to voters who went to the polls aiming to oust an inert Labour Party rather than re-instate what Rob Hirst calls the 'born to rule mob'. On an even larger scale globilisation and economic rationalisation have become a new religion. And Australia's doing it to dispel the cliche that it's a nation united by apathy and lacking a grasp of the basics of politics. Instead, we're replacing the relatively harmless reputation for being hard drinking good hearted knock-abouts with a more insidious rep for racism.

There's hardly a blunter way of protesting all this than calling your album, single and tour Redneck Wonderland. Like Hirst says, "Midnight Oil is at it's most convincing when it's pissed off." He's right when he adds, "The title is an indicator of the main thrust of the record. Pete is spitting out these songs. There's an anger and urgency to Redneck Wonderland that we haven't had consistently since the 10 to 1 record". There's a chilling claustrophobia to Redneck' which is as hard and dark as anything Midnight Oil have ever done a far cry from the centered exploration of the Diesel and Dust period, even further from the Australian spiritualism of the last studio album 'Breathe'. Listen to deadset hard rocker "Concrete" and the screaming edge works with the songs' warning. This is Midnight Oil making music as mad as the times, and edgier than anything they've done since "Head Injuries." While the new kids have gained more attention than the Oils in the late 90's, this is like a restatement of intent. Grunge came and went but Midnight Oil have stuck around, now with a renewed political relevance and revitalised sound.

Of Redneck Wonderland, Peter Garrett said, "In some ways Redneck' is an example of us just basically confronting what we are head on and saying this is what Midnight Oil is. In some ways it's also universal because it's saying, get colour blind stop getting hung up about the way people look and stop blaming them for your problems. This is clearly not the right way to go."

It was out on the road on the 20,000 Watt RSL tour that Midnight Oil road-tested these new songs, so while they've worked with new guard noisenik producer Magoo (who's worked with peers like Regurgitator, Front End Loader and Not From There, but was stoked with the opportunity to produce bonafide Australian legends), there's a solidity in the songs that negates any worries about the Oils going trip-hop or taking a spot on any tech-based bandwagon. There's a few loops and samples here, but just like "White Skin, Black Heart's " placement between "Dreamworld" and "Koszciousko" on 20,000 Watt RSL best of proved the continuity of sound, it's all in the context of great rock songs delivered in a style Midnight Oil have personally defined as Australian.

They also brought in Diesel and Dust producer, Warne Livesy to add final touches and record the title track. When Garrett says Midnight Oil threw away the blueprint, he's not kidding. From the opening of deadset hardrock song "Concrete", there's a new atmosphere. Dark industrial metal meets gigantic Led Zeppelin swing on "Blot" and scuzzy '90's glam on "Safety Chain Blues", while they move in unfamiliar directions on Brian Wilson/"Strawberry Fields" inspired "Drop In The Ocean". The emotional tone connects the dots.

So far, this reads like any mainstream media opinion piece, preaching to the converted. But while the progressive papers distance themselves from the people who they need to communicate with - those that believe that these journos are indeed the one-eyed witch hunters they always suspected Midnight Oil take it direct to the punters.

Who are you going to listen to" Someone who writes down out at you from some distant and irrelevant urban tower, treating your ideas as a self-evident joke"

Or someone who comes to your town to your pub, waves you down with those gigantic hands and asks, "What Goes On?" For the next couple of months, you'll be able to catch Midnight Oil speaking direct to Redneck Wonderland. Maybe it will wake a few of us up, on both sides of the ideological fence.

Redneck Wonderland the album is released July 6. Watch for the Redneck Wonderland tour, hitting your local over 30 dates from July 1 to August 30.

From Sony Music Australia, by Sony Music Online

(Note: this article has not been approved for reproduction.)