BOBBY ALU

If you ask Byron Bay’s Bobby Alu what his music sounds like, he’ll tell you how he hopes it makes you feel: like you have your favourite drink in hand, sipping as the sun sets on a balmy evening that’s laden with the promise of adventure. In an ideal world, he’d follow summer around the earth, in his endless quest to nail that feeling in his songs.
For Bobby it’s all about letting the music decide where it takes you – creatively and physically – and following the threads of curiosity large, small and often strange. It’s playing ukulele with old friends at the local market in exchange for a box of vegetables, because how weird is it to improvise along to people buying bananas at 7am on a Tuesday? It’s going to Ghana with just a hunch and a WhatsApp number to track down the rhythms that lit up his heart. It’s touring the world for five years as Xavier Rudd’s percussionist, learning how to be in service to the vibe of a room, and how to make the jump to being an international performer in his own right. It’s honouring his Samoan heritage through sharing the stage and releasing an EP with his mother to connect with the language of her homeland. Always, it’s about being open to discovery: if you choose music, you choose it all.
Across multiple releases – starting with the deep grooves of his self-titled debut album in 2010 (Triple J Radio – Roots ’n All Top 10), and continuing through to Flow in 2019 (#1 Independent Album Charts – Australian Independent Record Labels Assoc. / Double J Radio – Feature Album), Bobby’s musicianship has flourished as exponentially as his spirit of inquisitiveness and collaboration.
The beautiful fusion of rhythms, effortless harmonies, and storytelling that weaves instrumentation and influences from his Polynesian ancestry has remained at the core of his work. And as Bobby’s songwriting skills have continued to mature and evolve, the music fans have been gifted in recent years has perfectly reflected an artist who is consistently taking steps forward into dynamic new creative territory.
Entering a new album cycle in 2023 with the release of coastal pop jam Do It to mark heaving band appearances on the world-renown Byron Bay Bluesfest stages, follow-up sing-along Sunsets (With You) dropped in time for Alu’s first headline runs in the US, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Adding the lovers rock reggae swoon Ready For Your Love, before the latest single and album title track Keep It Tropical – a horn-laden tropical soul groove – Alu’s fourth studio album is a mantra. Keep It Tropical. Take naps. Be generous. Go on adventures. Have gratitude. Enjoy the little things. Strive to be better. Don’t be so serious. Love. Laugh a lot. Eat the odd donut. Swim in the ocean. Enjoy the sunshine and warmth.
With radio adds on Double J and ABC Radio, and playlist wins across the likes of Island Time, Indie Arrivals (Spotify), Jazz Soul Café, New Music Daily Netherlands (Apple) and Roots Revival: Best Of New Reggae, New Tracks Latin (Tidal), Keep It Tropical debuted at #3 on the ARIA Australian Albums Chart, and #1 on the AIR Independent Label Albums Chart. This followed an epic 50-date Breakfast Tour in the lead up to the album’s May 2024 release. Posing the simple question: ‘what if we did the opposite of a national album tour?’ Alu teamed up with cheeky Breakfast Shirts guy Mark Crotti, a milk sponsor, and a grocery store sponsor – just a few heart-led small businesses coming together in each location to share food and coffee, and spread a little joy into everyone’s morning. Captured as a mini-doco on socials each day, the response from attendees and far beyond has been extraordinary. A fresh concept, though it fits Alu’s breezy yet deep philosophy for this latest body of work, and life generally: to keep following the threads that lead to joy.
To keep it tropical is to simply keep things in perspective. Despite tropical themes also being an overtly literal part of Alu’s life, the mantra is also his super-power as a musician. Since the beginning, he has chosen to spread positivity, without glossing over the hard stuff; invitational and expressive, it has brought his global audience a sense of community.