STACK #225 July 2023

MUSIC REVIEWS

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L - R: Ben Harper, Let's Eat Grandma, AURORA, Fontaines D.C.

FEATURE ARTIST

Various Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake

Dami Im In Between

Voyager Fearless in Love Until this year’s Eurovision, Voyager were Perth’s best-kept secret. (Hands up if their Grand Final appearance was your first exposure to the synth-metal band!) But their pitch-perfect performance was no surprise – they formed in 1999, and this is their eighth album. No other Australian band sounds quite like them, but they did us proud, finishing ninth with the power-packed Promise, which appears here. As that song showed, Voyager’s sound is a mix of big guitars and big hooks – and they’re not afraid to throw in the occasional death metal vocal. As their name suggests, Voyager take you to a destination unknown. They come across as a bizarre mix of Kajagoogoo and Queensrÿche. Yep, it’s a strange concept, but somehow it works, and the result is quite a trip. (Season of Mist) Jeff Jenkins

For an artist who largely existed on the periphery of the music industry over his brief 26 years, the enduring influence of Nick Drake’s songwriting on subsequent generations of musicians cannot be overstated; The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake has been curated with this

When Dami Im won The X Factor , the record company had her pegged as a middle-of-the-road covers act. Put simply, they got it wrong. Im has managed to assert her independence, showing she’s a strong artist with a lot to say. “I’m not a fool,” she sings in Role Model, the opening song on this seven track mini-album, which documents her rollercoaster ride. “Didn’t know I’d end up here,” she reveals, before adding: “I’m not one size/ I am a woman, I am a daughter, I’ll be a mother... I won’t be perfect.” Eleven women have won Idol, The Voice, and The X Factor over the past two decades. Sadly, most have disappeared without a trace. But Dami Im sits comfortably alongside Casey Donovan as a true artist, proudly doing things her own way. As she sings here: “If you wanna be another sheep, then follow the rest.” (ABC) Jeff Jenkins

understanding in mind. Across a stunning collection of Drake’s original compositions, more than 30 of today’s most celebrated artists have contributed their own reimagined renditions of these timeless classics. One of the remarkable qualities to Drake’s original recordings was the depth he was able to convey through such sparse instrumental arrangements; with these covers we get to experience the compositions built out into more elaborate studio productions, not unlike when colour is retroactively added to a black and white film. An ethereal interpretation of From the Morning by Let’s Eat Grandma is utterly bewitching in its delicate application of reverb, as is the mellow and beachy treatment employed by David Gray on Place to Be . Farther down the experimental spectrum, Stick in the Wheel’s electronic take of Parasite may live in stark contrast to Drake’s original recording, but is no less successfully executed compared to the more traditional covers, like the contemporary folk aesthetic heard on Karine Polwart/Kris Drever’s Northern Sky, or Mike Lindsay’s summer-soaked Saturday Sun. Genre be damned; each participant here is equal to the next in what they have to offer their chosen song, be it the post-punk of Fontaines D.C. or the indie rock of Bombay Bicycle Club - the transcendent power of Nick Drake’s music lies in its ability to exist in these multitudes. (Chrysalis) Alex Burgess

Jess Hitchcock Unbreakable

Tina Arena Love Saves

FEATURE ARTIST

Championed by Paul Kelly and possessing a magical mezzo soprano voice sought after by our most prestigious performing arts collectives, Jess Hitchcock is poised on the edge of something big... and Unbreakable could be the golden ticket. A debut caboodle of pop, folk, and astonishing ballads (see standout Soak to My Bones , which sounds like something out of a stripped-back Les Miserables , or a song Claudia might sing to Lestat), Unbreakable showcases the fluidity of Hitchcock's talent. And what does she sound like? Whoever paired the artist with Tina Arena for the latter's Music from the Home Front performance of Sorrento Moon (2020) knew what they were doing; Hitchock could easily be mistaken for a young Tina, as her voice bears similarly effortless accuracy, balmy maturity, and an Angora texture. (MGM) ZKR

“I can’t be anything that I’m not,” Tina Arena declares on her first album of original material in eight years. Her voice remains an instrument of beauty, but Arena refuses to trade on past glories in this collection of soaring, dramatic pop. “You look back,” she sings, “I go spiritual.” She’s clearly an artist comfortable in her own skin, refusing to play the game as “the radio’s playing same, and same again." Then, in Can’t Say Anything , she states simply: “I’ve got my own mind.” And the defiant Devil in Me features one of the year’s most striking lines: “F-ck you, I’m a Joan of Arc without a cause.” Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the start of Arena’s showbiz journey. Who would have thought that Tiny Tina would become one of our most interesting pop artists? (Positive Dream) Jeff Jenkins

Ian Moss Rivers Run Dry

Diesel has a beautiful description of Ian Moss’ guitar playing: “Heaven’s coming through his hands.” And his playing is intuitive and inventive, refusing to follow a script. With Mossy, it’s all about the feel . It’s hard to fathom that it’s 50 years since Cold Chisel started; Mossy’s guitar work is as expressive as ever, and his vocal remains pure and fresh. Rarely has a rocker aged so gracefully. Diesel and his daughter Lily wrote a funky song, Open Your Eyes , for Mossy’s new album, his eighth solo collection. The record also features contributions from Don Walker – Mossy provides his take on I Miss You in the Night , which was also on Vika & Linda’s recent album – and two co-writes with Troy Cassar-Daley, including the classic driving song Nullarbor Plain. Mossy also teamed up with country duo O’Shea to write Bury Me , which he performs here as a duet with Kasey Chambers. The artist's last solo album, 2018’s self-titled set, featured a gem called Broadway , which he wrote about missing his son, Julian, while on the road. Bringing it full circle, this album closes with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Blame it on the Sun – featuring Julian, who is an emerging artist. It’s a lovely ending to a record that shows that time does goes by, but some artists remain ageless. (Universal) Jeff Jenkins

32 JULY 2023

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