It’s been sometime between metaphorical drinks for Brisbane’s avant-garde musician Edward Guglielmino, but he’s back and with a brand-new album under his arm to boot. Sunshine State is Ed G’s second album and follows in the indie success of the highly acclaimed debut Late At Night, an album that garnered him a solid underground following and set him up as an underdog hero to be reckoned with.

Sunshine State was recorded across 2011 in Brisbane with producer and friend Jamie Trevaskis (The Wilson Pickers, The Gin Club, Texas Teas, Timothy Carroll) at his Junkship Studios and was ably assisted by his new band – The Show – which consists of Sam Schlencker (Skinny Jean), Rowley Cowper and Kirsty Tickle (Little Scout).

If Late At Night was an album of admissions of a lifestyle Ed once indulged working at Brisbane’s beloved Troubadour venue, then Sunshine State is the sound of him growing up a bit, paying his bills, enjoying a long-term relationship and, gasp, even settling into a routine. On paper, this could become incredibly mundane but on wax, songs like ‘In The Morning’, ‘Walking My Way’, ‘You’ll Be The Death Of Me’ and the utterly remarkable ‘Swam In The Water’ almost sum up his unique brain and are delivered with a little less of the avant-garde attitude of old and grown into something that’s more chamber pop.

Sunshine State will be released on May 19 with a tour, kicking off with a very special hometown show at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts. Special guests include a rare outing from the side-project of Velociraptor main-man in The Jeremy Neale Five and Moneet In Air. The tour then heads to Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Sydney and features supports from the likes of The Boat People’s James O’Brien, Carry Nation and No Art’s Charles Buddy Daaboul.