Runner-up: Eskimo Joe (Kav Temperley, Stu Macleod, Joel Quartermain) "Foreign Land"
It was at a Cairo coffee shop said to be thousands of years old in which Kav Temperley decided it was time for something new. Here in the El Fyshawys Cafe, the Eskimo Joe frontman resolved to cast off his rock-star mask, shutdown the smoke machines, turn down the lasers and close the chapter of the four-times-platinum juggernaut of Black Fingernails, Red Wine.
"I was sitting there having a coffee and smoking a sheesha and at that moment I decided I was going to give up the idea of this rock-star persona I'd tried to create and almost sacrificed myself for," Temperley says. "I was going to come back and just be me and see where I landed"
So from a bustling Egyptian eatery that never closes to the sleepy port town of Fremantle, Temperley, guitarist Stuart MacLeod and drummer Joel Quartermain found a new challenge when they regrouped in their home studio - to simply be themselves. The experience was liberating and the result is a beatutiful accomplished album that masterfully captures the finest hour of the band's 12 year career.
Eskimo Joe formed in East Fremantle, Western Australia in 1997. Their debut album, Girl, was certified gold in 2001. Their second album, A Song Is a City, was released in 2004 and was later certified double platinum. The first single from the album, "From the Sea", debuted in the top 40 of the ARIA Singles Chart, as well as being voted number three in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2004.
Eskimo Joe released their third album, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, in 2006. The album was certified four times platinum. The first single released, title track "Black Fingernails, Red Wine", exceeded the commercial success of their previous work, becoming their first top 10 single, and taking out number two in Triple J's Hottest 100 2006. The group's fourth album, titled Inshalla, was released on 29 May 2009 following the release of the album's first single, "Foreign Land".