album
Album Review: Golden Fang release the elegantly razor-sharp album ‘The Man With Telltale Scars’, a profound and moving magnum opus with bite.
Golden Fang for the most part eschew traditional song structures. Not for them the old verse/chorus/verse/chorus/middle eight break/chorus pattern: each of their tracks feel more like special moments in time as singer/guitarist Carl Redfern emotes feelings and melodies that are scattered over raw, unadorned, visceral guitar riffs that ebb and flow, recede and engulf in …
Album Review: JESSICA’s ‘With Reverie’ has a gorgeous ghostly presence filled with longing and loss.
With a delicate piano filigree dusting a series of gorgeously quiet and reflective songs, the new album from Sydney artist JESSICA has the elegance and enigma of an Eric Satie piece fronted by Dusty Springfield. ‘With Reverie’ is essentially a series of haunting vignettes deliciously encapsulated into (mostly) three minute interludes, filled with emotion and …
Album Review: Pluto Jonze releases a multicoloured universe of pop in his vibrant album ‘Awe’
The new album ‘Awe’ by esteemed Sydney-based artist Pluto Jonze (Hey Geronimo) is ten dollops of sweet ethereal goodness, filled with indelible melodies and dreamy, cloudy and hypnotic soundscapes. Jonze displays an ear for melody brushed with a degree of theatricality which makes for a thoroughly enjoyable listen. This is an ambitious album presented in widescreen with …
Album Review: The legendary Even jangles up a storm with their sparkling, immersive double album ‘Reverse Light Years’
Nothing succeeds like excess, and when it’s a double album of melodic anthems infused with a sixties pop harmonies, seventies guitar solos and an eighties/nineties mix of jangling guitars and pop melodies, you really can’t go wrong. ‘Reverse Light Years’, the new double album from Melbourne legends Even has all that and more, and leaves …
Album Review: North Arm’s beautiful ‘Bring The Daylight’ emanates a sunshine glow and quiet resolve.
North Arm is essentially the work of Roderick Smith, and his new album ‘Bring The Daylight’ is as light as air and just as refreshing. The opening title track is an absolutely gorgeous, reflective track bursting with a sense of melancholy and quiet resolve. Smith repeats the line ‘I’m coming home’: an expression itself that …
Album Review: The Aerial Maps unveil the poetic beauty of ‘Intimate Hinterland’: a shining beacon of sunlight emanating hope and love across an endless landscape. Plus launch gig announced.
The poetry of Adam Gibson is raw and intimate. It reflects the harsh sunlit terrain of Australia through his epic widescreen portrayal of the environment and the compelling forces of nature, while somewhat antithetically delving into the minutiae of everyday life with crystal clear observations grounded in hope, love and compassion. In the company of …
Album Review: The Institutes deliver a magnificent indie pop debut in ‘Colosseum’: an edifice of pure gold.
It’s hard not to resort to hyperbole when you come across a debut like ‘Colosseum’ from Coventry band The Institutes. You cannot help but hear in the DNA of this album the freakish brilliance of outrageous debuts from giants in the past: The Las, Stone Roses and The Smiths to name a few outstanding examples. …
Album Review: Australian punk legends The Hard Ons release thunderous new album ‘I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken’ and announce national tour.
The Hard-Ons have remained one of the most influential Australian punk bands for decades on end. Following the recruitment of beloved rock ‘n’ roll singer Tim Rogers the group have just released their thirteenth studio album, ‘I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken’. The record kickstarts with ‘Hold Tight’, an exultant number that seems to …
Album Review: Sydney’s Dominic Breen sets the controls for intergalactic with the glorious shimmering ‘Blue Volume’
Dominic Breen‘s new album ‘Blue Volume’, out today through Double Drummer, is certainly a cinematic experience – both in the sounds it creates and the visions it brings forth. And by cinematic, I’m talking widescreen with ultra vivid colours and an immersive surround sound sparkle that shimmers like stars in the firmament. At the very …
Album review: ‘Ten Songs’ from T. Wilds is a soft and delicate wonderland.
Tania Bowers, operating under the nom de plume T. Wilds, has just released the album ‘Ten Songs’: a deceptively simple and unadorned collection of the sweetest sounds imaginable. This is an album that sparkles with life and vitality and shimmers with an innate glow. Bowers has the most distinctive vocal style: a relatively low register, …