I am a music man

Press bio

Muletonic is the music project of Australian songwriter and poet Alaric Jones.  Alaric writes protest songs and songs of whimsy and wordplay. Songs that take in the natural world and social disorder, from tyranny to the life cycle of bees (Alaric is also a beekeeper). His poet sensibilities keep a focus on the lyric, while weaving in a musical thread that is inspired by other poet-songsmiths such as David Berman, Cat Power, Bill Callahan, Nick Drake, Adrianne Lenker, and of course, Leonard Cohen. Alaric’s 2023 single “This is what we chose (spotify)” draws on imagery of the bushfires which ravage the Australian landscape every year, and which are getting worse as the world heats up, earning Alaric the epithet “Climate Cohen”. The single received airplay in the UK’s Redifolk radio and on Irish local radio. It is the first song on Alaric’s EP, “The Present Race (Spotify)”. The recent duo of songs “Fire the Fox” and “(We are all going to) War Again” explore sombre themes of approaching war and revolutionary resistance. Ironically, they were recorded in “Happy studios” in Newtown, Sydney.

“These songs, some of them, might be dealing with heavy issues. But I believe that at the bottom of the pit of despair, underneath all the mud and slime, there is a little door, and behind that door there is a little room which is where all the really really good jokes are kept”. – Alaric

Alaric in 2025

Upcoming gigs:

I often play at Smith’s Alternative open mic nights and nights for local talents.

I’ll be playing at the ANU Co-op’s acoustic soup night on 15 October 2025.

If you’d like me to play best get in touch by email halfpoet (a) gmail.com or through instagram.

Discography

Fire the FoX / (We are all going to) War Again (2025)

A sombre pair of songs, “Fire the Fox” and its B side “(We are all going to) war again” contemplate the spiralling down of society and ask what is the most poetic response that is possible. Is it in picking up a pen or a shotgun?

The Bee Song (2025)

This little joke song is about the life cycle of the queen bee. I am a bee keeper so this is all a kind of first hand experience to me. You can see me keeping my bees in the music video i made for this song.

Rainsong/Firesong (2024)

cover of my album 'Rainsong/Firesong".

A new sad short folk single released on turquoise 7” vinyl called ‘Rainsong’ is accompanied by a B side called ‘Firesong’. They are both atmospheric pieces that explore feelings of isolation from the chaos of society and hope to find redemption in sacrifice and whimsy. I wrote them a few years ago on a rainy day in front of the fire.

Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTcqpyCk-k&ab_channel=muletonic

The Present Race EP (2023)

Cover of the album 'The Present Race' of a young girl and a dog walking on a beach.

Six songs deal with the issues that concern the whole world – climate change, war, tyranny, loss, and power – as well as songs that play lyrically with the inner world of the poet. I play all the instruments and recorded this EP at home. My 9yo daughter sings on the track “She’d never think twice” which is about my grandmother growing up in Sydney in the 1920s.

The music video for the lead single “This is what we chose”( features my dog, Wally).  A video of the launch at Smiths Alternative is on YouTube.

An accompanying EP “To Eternity” of demos from the Present Race sessions is also released on bandcamp.

The Pacifist – single – (2020)

This song is inspired by the partisan movement of Yugoslavia during World War II, which was the most successful partisan movement fighting the fascists during the war. My grandfather was from Slovenia, you can read his story somewhere else on this site.

The single is available on 7” vinyl from Bandcamp. The ‘B’ side features the Bob Dylan inspired song “Golden Tower”, about terrorists and villains.

Loose Track LP (2020)

This was my first full length LP which reflects a time of music creation with small kids underfoot. The album opens with me trying to record something on the piano surrounded by kid mayhem and then devolves from there. Some experimental tracks on this album feature the sounds and experiences of farm life, as well as my first folky explorations of world-weary themes and weird humour.

The sweet voice of my friend Havalina is featured on the co-written song “If your hands feel cold”.

Canberra Crime Files Podcast EP (2020)

greenish coloured pine trees, an album cover for capital crime files

I wrote these instrumental songs and sounds for the Canberra Crime Files podcast, about local unsolved mysteries, researched and narrated by local historian (and now state MP) Nichole Overall.

 

Find Muletonic on:

Alaric on 

Recent media:

https://happymag.tv/fire-the-fox-review/ Happy Mag (Australia)

https://www.obscuresound.com/2025/07/muletonic-fire-the-fox/ Obscure Sound (US)

https://www.iggymagazine.com/muletonic-enflamme-la-revolte-douce-avec-fire-the-fox/ IGGY magazine (France)

https://songplode.art/2025/06/26/muletonic-the-fonts-maverick-smith-hadnot-creek-chris-st-john-new-this-week/ Songplode (Canada)

https://lacaverna.net/de-la-introspeccion-al-grito-de-cambio-nueva-musica-que-conecta-el-alma-y-la-conciencia/ LaCaverna.net (Mexico)

https://medium.com/youmedancing/on-the-radar-artistas-que-voc%C3%AA-precisa-conhecer-dc8e9b2c2a27 You! Me! Dancing! (Brazil)

https://www.artistionline.tv/l/muletonic-fire-the-fox/ Artisti Online (Italy)