Joel Sarakula is a European-based Australian artist who writes, produces and sings soulful pop, gazing out at a contemporary world through vintage glasses, vintage threads and long blond hair: think Ray Manzarek fronting a 70s soul band. His music is informed by a rich, 1970s-inspired palette, drawing on soft-rock, funk and disco influences – sunny, uptempo jams for darker times. He may look like a long-lost Gibb brother but at live concerts an irreverent sense of humour is always there just below the fringe.

Born in Sydney, currently based between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and London, and with an international outlook, Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being a victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway before finally establishing his career in the UK and Europe in 2012.

From then on it was a whirlwind of releases, The Golden Age in 2013, The Imposter in 2015, Love Club in 2018, and Companionship in 2020, which racked up generous plays, often on rotation across national UK and European radio, getting him noticed in The New York Times, The Independent (UK), The Irish Times, Shindig! (UK), Stern (Germany), Rolling Stone Germany, El Pais (Spain) and Sydney Morning Herald.

After spending 10 years based in London, he moved to The Canary Islands at the height of the pandemic. His experiences of island life lead to the creation of his album Island Time released in 2023 on Légère Recordings. Stylistically covering soft-rock, soul, disco and reggae, the album is a collection of songs covering themes such as island life, city life, loneliness, romantic love and our relationship with nature.

In 2024 Sarakula teamed up with Dutch multi-instrumentalist Phil Martin to form New Visionaries, releasing album Roadmaps on Lovemonk Records. The idea was to construct succinct mood pieces capable of transporting listeners on a three-minute odyssey, often traversing distant and distinct musical cultures. It’s an album that appeals to soul enthusiasts, cinematic groove aficionados and music explorers.

That same year, Sarakula also released another full-length under his own name, Soft Focus, on Légère, a mid-career album spanning his many influences and genres including soft-rock, funk, AOR, soulful disco and indie pop, all brought together under the umbrella of his gentle gaze and a ‘soft’ aesthetic.

In between recordings albums, Joel Sarakula is a regular fixture on the festival and club circuit having performed at SXSW, Primavera, Reeperbahn Festival, Glastonbury and soul-funk oriented festivals like Imaginafunk and Blackisback. Ever the internationalist, he tours with pickup bands sourced from each territory he plays in: a Barcelona band for Spain, a Berlin band for Germany and so forth. This cross-cultural exchange is a tribute to the 1960s and 70s when world travelling soul and pop artists from the US did the same and and guarantees that his live shows remain fresh, exciting and often unpredictable.

 

For more:
Joel Sarakula’s Website
Joel Sarakula on Facebook
Joel Sarakula on Instagram

Releases