STACK #229 November 2023

MUSIC FEATURE

THE GREAT & POWERFUL OZ! visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

Dope Lemon, Kimosabè Angus Stone's Dope Lemon project is still sauntering with all the cool of a tall glass o' fizz on the seafront, and he told us about the exotic percussion parts in new album Kimosabè having their roots in his very musical upbringing. "In the lounge room, we had all types of percussive instruments at our fingertips, which meant we were able to try our hand with them freely," he explained. "When we moved out, we stole half of [that] gear... Don’t tell Dad!" The Wolfe Brothers, Livin' the Dream Tassie bros Tom and Nick Wolfe dropped their sixth album in April this year, and it celebrates all kinds of love and loyalty, and explores overcoming hardship with joyful camaraderie. Don't miss standout track Here's to the Ones , a tribute to mothers, partners and other women in the world – a particularly bittersweet song given that the brothers lost their own mum late last year. 5 Seconds of Summer, The Feeling of Falling Upwards The 5SOS boys knocked it out of the park with The Feeling of Falling Upwards, a live album whose material is plucked from the Sydney band's 2022 show at London's Royal Albert Hall - a venue on whose steps they busked ten years ago! Vocalist and drummer Ashton Irwin describes the album's title as "the feeling of taking a leap of faith on such a fickle thing like music, and sharing this experience together year after year, season after season of our lives.” Angus & Julia Stone, Life Is Strange (Soundtrack) Siblings and stealers of family instruments Angus and Julia Stone certainly weren't planning to make an album together in mid-2021. Then when the opportunity to pen the soundtrack for the Square Enix graphic adventure game Life Is Strange: True Colors, came along, they grabbed it. And like the celebrated game, the album's core theme is one the duo have spent their lives investigating: “At the bottom of everything is love,” Angus has explained. “When all else fails, love will be the thing that conquers.”

Yes, we just love making a big deal about our homegrown musos all the dang year long. But this month – being AusMusic Month across the nation – we've made an especial effort to round up some of our very fave Aussie records from times recent, and times in the big-haired past!

Words Bec Summer, Jeff Jenkins

MAY-A, Analysis Paralysis EP When MAY-A appeared seemingly out of nowhere as guest vocalist on Flume's 2022 smash track Say Nothing , (which yoinked the number one spot in triple j's Hottest 100 that year), the hype train started its engines. Some knew the young Sydneysider from her debut EP of 2021, but it wasn't until June of this year that the singer-songwriter's second EP – loaded with expansive, '90s-splashed guitarwork and relatable lyrics for the chronic overthinker – that her star burst into gear. The MAY-A train is well and truly on its way. Ruel, 4th Wall Having spent three years sifting his favourite films, friends' experiences, and eventually his own personal ordeals for songwriting juice, London-born and Sydney-residing pop prince Ruel released his debut album 4th Wall in March this year. “As I wrote more songs, I got better at becoming more personal – but not giving too much away," he told us. Soundtrack, John Farnham: Finding the Voice From Sadie to You're the Voice and beyond, the renaissance of appreciation for Australian legend John Farnham's untold story found its peak in May this year, with the release of a documentary chronicling the vocalist's fascinating rise. The accompanying soundtrack includes rare and live cuts from across Farnesy's back catalogue, tracks from acts who impacted the icon's career, and compositions from Farnham band member and celebrated music director-producer David Hirschfelder. Busby Marou, Blood Red Deadly and APRA Award-winning duo Tom Busby and Jeremy Marou craft music that speaks to the ephemeral, connected threads of biology and beauty in nature. The fifth album from the blues and roots act, Blood Red, is as vital as its title suggests, exploring the yearning for human bonds, the real experience of living on the land, and their appreciation for the ways music can wrap us in shared harmony.

Brad Cox, Acres Crafting songs from his freshly-minted office on 100 acres of Central Queensland farmland, Brad Cox's third album Acres firmly supports his belief that connected with the natural world is "the most important thing there is," as he told us. "Period. Crazy people are the ones that don't get outside and smell the roses."

Daniel Johns (2021)

Holy Holy, Cellophane The dudes with the preternatural ability to paint enveloping soundscapes of heart-squishing indie rock presented us with another belter in September. On their fifth album, Timothy Carroll and Oscar Dawson showcased another enormous feather in their cap: the ability (and fearlessness) in shimmying off the forces of expectation, and taking intrepid leaps into new realms of experimentation. Tim Minchin, Apart Together As chockers with brisk wit as sudden, frank truths, Tim Minchin described his album Apart Together to us as having “this balance between letting it be whimsical – which it definitely is – and playful with words – which it sometimes is – but it still leans on that craft I’ve been trying to develop of making people not know whether they should be laughing or crying."

32 NOVEMBER 2023

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