‘James Street Tonight’ by Sydney musician Dominic Breen is an absolutely exquisite delight, draped in chiming guitars and melancholia and lifted skywards by Breen’s gorgeous vocals.
This immediately takes its place amongst the great Australian tradition of poetic troubadours stretching back to The Go-Betweens and The Apartments – cloaking lyrical beauty in shimmering melodies.
There is a sense of deep yearning and romanticism imbued deep in the song, which has an indelible melodic charm. A sense of hope is created, despite the tone, through the lyrics that impart a sense of acceptance and love:
Let me come over to James Street tonight
I promise I won’t try to get us back together
I just wanna lay by the swing and the streetlight
And sit in the silence of planes flying over
Exceptionally beautiful images delivered over a shining and brilliant instrumentation:
You can stream the track here through label Double Drummer.
‘James Street Tonight’ comes from Dominic’s debut album, recorded in Sydney over the past six months with Middle Kids’ member Tim Fitz producing. Fitz also played pedal steel and bass on the track, with the rest of the instrumentation handled entirely by Breen.
The album is currently in the final stages of production, with more new tracks to be released in the first half of this year. A title and release date will be announced shortly.
Feature Photograph: Dani Hansen
