Sweeney - Ageism (Vinyl)

Sweeney - Ageism (Vinyl)

Sweeney’s sixth full-length solo album “Ageism” collects the singles from 2023, including the popular ‘Daddy-O’ as seen on ABC TV’s Rage.

“Ageism” treks through 10 electronic pop songs about what it means to be old and queer. When ‘old’ these days can mean anything over the age of 35 (and getting younger). It is not an album of complaint but rather a series of interconnected songs that carry with them a broken nostalgia, failing ideologies and the ghosts of a music era now gone.

How does an artist grow old in an algorithmic world of momentary promises, short-lived news cycles, flashing appearances and an obsession with numbers? How does a musician age and work out time as a speeding thing, unable to pause and yet manage to produce?

And then, what if that musician existed in queer time that is non-linear but still demands a youthful beauty and a fluidity that doesn’t age well?

In a time of online dating and hook ups being one of the dominant ways to meet people for sex or possible relationships, there is a certain element that often gets overlooked: ageism. From a specifically queer perspective - and that of an older queer man (aged 51) - the signals are mixed.

From outright rejection (as both an ageing body and a washed up musician) of being too old to being fetishised as the Daddy figure (even if that is not part of one’s online profile identity) does one just simply retreat and find that invisible space?

“Ageism” embraces age instead of shunning it. The 10 songs observe the ageing queer body as a site of beauty, of wisdom, of false promises and a fragile future. Something to look forward to, something to leave behind.  

Tracklisting:

1. Preference
2. Better Man
3. The Fear & The Failing
4. Age, Age, Age
5. Young
6. Turn Away From The Middle Aged
7. Inbuilt Obsolescence
8. Daddy-O
9. A Picture Of Youth (ft. Jarrod Takle)
10. Life Goes One (ft. Garrett R Cooper from Brave Mistakes)