STACK #245 March 2025

FEATURE MUSIC

THIS MONTH? DAVID BOWIE Young Americans WARNER/INERTIA BILLY’S PICK REB FOUNTAIN How Love Bends ROCKET We got to know New Zealand’s Reb Fountain when she sang on Let’s Work It Out in Bed , one of the highlights of AUSSIE RELEASES THE CAT EMPIRE Bird in Paradise BMG FLOODLIGHTS Underneath INERTIA

The Empire was rebuilt in 2023 with the album Where the Angels Fall , with the only original members, Felix Riebl

Floodlights is the type of band that can unite a family. Their pulsating rock sound excites the indie kids, while their

Paul Kelly’s recent album Fever Longing Still . Her own album is a record about the transformative power of love. It’s atmospheric and alluring. It’s time that Australia truly discovered Reb Fountain.

A lways the epitome of a rock and roll chameleon, David Bowie, midway through his 1974 US tour, met guitarist Carlos Alomar, a session musi cian who had played with James Brown, Chuck Berry, and Wilson Pickett, three of Bowie’s R&B idols. Alomar had never heard of Bowie when they met, but something told him they should collaborate and form a working relationship. That sliding doors moment resulted in a friendship that saw Alomar becoming Bowie’s guide into American black music. At Alomar’s suggestion, Bowie decided to immediately record with him and some of his session compatriots, including sax ophonist David Sanborn, drummer Andy Newmark (a former member of Sly and the Family Stone), bass guitarist Willie Weeks of The Isley Brothers and a young, virtually unknown backing singer named Luther Vandross. The eight tracks completed for what would become Bowie’s ninth studio album included a number of US connections: the title track referenced McCarthyism and the resignation of President Richard Nixon (the line “I heard the news today, oh boy” was taken from The Beatles’ A Day in the Life ) while Somebody Up There Likes Me was the title of a 1956 Hollywood movie. A collaboration between Bowie, Alomar, and John Lennon – who was in another studio, recording his solo version of The Beatles’ Across the Universe – resulted in Bowie covering it. While a new song, Fame , written in the studio by Bowie, Alomar, and Lennon, resulted in Bowie’s first US number one single. The Young Americans sessions had a major effect on Bowie, as his sound and show were revised. He scrapped the dancers, sets, and costumes for a sparse stage and a new band led by Alomar.

and Ollie McGill, unveiling a new line-up for the band’s ninth studio album. It was a mighty record, but after a run of six Top 10 albums, it stalled at number 73. Bird in Paradise shows that this Cat has got more lives. Riebl explains that the record “is an Australian-Flamenco, Afro-Cuban project... combined with the grit and toughness of Aussie rock history”. Twenty-six years after they formed, The Cat Empire remain crowd-pleasers. And deeply satisfying. ED KUEPPER & JIM WHITE After the Flood ROCKET Aussie legend Ed Kuepper teams up with the Dirty Three’s Jim White to revisit some cuts from Kuepper’s classic catalogue, from The Saints, The Aints, Laughing Clowns, and his prodigious solo output. The record has a killer live vibe. “We took what Jim and I had been doing live and brought it into the immediacy of what we’d been doing, that it wasn’t laboured over.” Nearly 50 years after (I’m) Stranded and on the verge of his 70th birthday, Ed Kuepper remains a potent force. studio,” Kuepper explains. “It was important that we captured the

parents will dig the fact that they’re not afraid to reference classic Aussie rock – think early Oils, Redgum, Goanna, and Spy vs. Spy. Produced by Dan Luscombe, Floodlights’ third album is alive on arrival. The aptly titled Can You Feel It says it all. Then there’s The Light Won’t Shine Forever , which opens with a spoken word piece before exploding into a glorious celebration of rock. With bands such as King Stingray and Floodlights, Aussie rock is in good hands.

SASAMI Blood on the Silver Screen UNIVERSAL

Sasami Ashworth, who releases records under just her first name, is one of music’s most adventurous artists,

swinging from ballads to metal, pop, and industrial rock. Preceded by the singles Honeycrash and Slugger , Sasami’s third solo album showcases her dramatic rock in fine style. THROWING MUSES Moonlight Concessions ROCKET

THE WIGGLES Wiggle Up, Giddy Up! ABC/ROCKET

If Beyoncé can do it, why not The Wiggles? For their 63rd studio album, The Wiggles have gone country. And

they’re not mucking around. The album features collaborations with some of country music’s biggest names, including Dolly Parton, Morgan Evans, Troy Cassar-Daley, Lainey Wilson, Orville Peck, and Dasha. And the late-great Slim Dusty also appears, reimagining his classic Duncan as I Love to Have a Dance with Dorothy . Fun for the whole family, this is the perfect way to introduce kids to country music.

Throwing Muses formed more than four decades ago, founded by Kristin Hersh and her stepsister Tanya Donelly, who

later went on to The Breeders and her own band, Belly. But Hersh continues to make music with Throwing Muses – Moonlight Concessions is the band’s 11th studio album.

Coming in APRIL BALL PARK MUSIC Like Love (Apr 4) JOHN WILLIAMSON How Many Songs (Apr 4) BLISS N ESO The Moon (The Light Side) (Apr 11)

Radio legend Billy Pinnell presents Billy Pinnell’s Musical Moments on YouTube.

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