Torch the Moon

Torch the Moon is the fifth studio album by Australian band The Whitlams, released by Black Yak through Warner in 2002. It peaked at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart. It received platinum album certification from ARIA.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tim Freedman, unless otherwise noted.

"Cries Too Hard" – 4:11
"Fall for You" – 3:47
"The Lights Are Back On" – 3:44
"I Will Not Go Quietly " – 3:53
"Kate Kelly" – 4:18
"Royal in the Afternoon" – 2:58
"Gone Surfing" – 2:12
"Best Work" – 4:33
"Start My Cellar Again" – 4:08
"Coming Over" – 4:26
"Out the Back" – 4:31
"Breathing You In" – 2:56
"Ease of the Midnight Visit" – 4:20

Re-releases

Initial prints of Torch the Moon contained a second CD, entitled Side 4. The track list contained:

"Don't Believe Anymore" – 5:22
"Last Life" – 4:45
"Witness Protection Scheme" – 3:52
"Back into the Wild" – 3:40
"Still in Love with You" – 3:23

A second print of the CD was released with the initial track listing, as well as "Don't Believe Anymore" and "Last Life".
A third release of the CD saw the thirteen initial tracks included, but none of the tracks from Side 4.
Finally, a fourth print of the CD saw a combination of the fifteen-track release as well as an exclusive 'Rarities' CD, collecting B-sides and unreleased tracks from the last nine years. The track list ran as follows:

"The Curse Stops Here" – 3:37
"Where Is She? " – 4:28
"Tiny Girls" – 2:50
"Buy Now Pay Later " – 4:53
"Bring Me Back to Your Love " – 4:05
"Coming up for Air" – 3:46
"Fall for You " – 3:36
"Never Fall in Love Again" – 3:36
"No Aphrodisiac " – 4:22
"400 Miles from Darwin " – 3:20
"Out the Back " – 9:43
"I Make Hamburgers " – 3:01

Personnel

Tim Freedman – Piano, Vocals, Backing Vocals
Jak Housden – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Terepai Richmond – Drums, Percussion
Warwick Hornby – Bass
Daniel Denholm – Strings
Emma-Jane Murphy, Melissa Barnard, Peter Morrison – Cello
Caroline Henbest – Viola
Aiko Goto, Doreen Cumming, Elizabeth Jones, Helena Rathbone, Jun Yi Ma, Naomi Radom – Violin

In popular culture

The first verse of "Kate Kelly", a song about Kate Kelly, younger sister of Ned Kelly, may have inspired Australian author David Hunt in his 2016 book "True Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia, Volume 2" in which he also describes Joe Byrne as having been "strung up" like a "marionette".