Earth and Sun and Moon

Coming after the world-conquering double shot of <i>Diesel and Dust</i> (1987) and <i>Blue Sky Mining</i> (1990), <i>Earth and Sun and Moon</i> reaffirmed that global fame would not divert Midnight Oil from their longstanding mission of interrogating the myriad social, political and environmental injustices in their native Australia. With ​​Jim Moginie’s piano and keyboards taking increasingly central roles in the mix, the album boasts a rootsier feel than its more tense predecessors. But that loose, relaxed vibe functions as a Trojan Horse for frontman Peter Garrett’s unsparing lyrics: the seemingly patriotic heartland rock of “My Country” proves to be a damning critique of blind nationalism, while the title track is an elating folk-funk anthem that couches a requiem for a dying planet. And even if the album’s harmonica-powered centrepiece, “Truganini”, initially earned this band some criticism at home for its well-intentioned but problematic invocation of the 19th-century Tasmanian Aboriginal figurehead, the song stands as a testament to Midnight Oil’s willingness to engage their audience in uncomfortable conversations around colonialism at a time when no other rock band of their stature would.