STACK #181 Nov 2019

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Rex Orange County Pony How to change? How to remain vulnerable? How to look at our past selves with forgiveness, instead of wading into the swamp of cringe and horror which flattens present mood and squishes future hope? Alex O’Connor explores all these questions in his masterfully self- deprecating third album of pop as Rex Orange County, letting sweet bedroom electronics, matter-of- fact piano, neat beats, suddenly cinematic strings, and versatile horns adorn his wandering mind- missives. Across just one verse he can sound English, Australian or American, which – rather than coming across as phony – gives him an everyman aura that makes him more accessible than his more manic peers like Hobo Johnson. The pinnacle is Everyway – one of the most genuine love songs I’ve heard Desert Sessions Desert Sessions Vol 11 & 12 Recorded at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree – with Joshua Homme as ringmaster to this circus of talented freaks (Les Claypool, Jake Shears, Mike Kerr ect.) – you already know this record rules. A sneaky beat initiates the Billy Gibbons-led Move Together , which drips with face-meltingly sexual riffs. When Libby Grace Hackford takes the lead on If You Run she could be Homme's twin sister, and instrumental jam Far East For The Trees is the theme song from your new favourite road movie. Drums throughout are smashed by Carla Azarenka and Stella Mozgawa (also on "room service trays"). Breaking the 16-year drought between sittings, Desert Sessions Vol 11 & 12 once again captures a fission that can only occur when musical heroes collide. (Matador/Remote Control) Bryget Chrisfield in ages. Arresting. (Sony) Zo ë Radas

Jessica Mauboy Hilda Hilda is Jessica Mauboy’s first studio album in six years. Not that she’s been idle, having released two soundtrack albums for The Secret Daughter and performed at Eurovision. A lot of singers have come and gone since Mauboy became a star while still a teenager. Now 30, “I’m not finished,” she defiantly declares in the showstopping Little Things. And she’s right. Hilda (which takes its title from Mauboy’s middle name) is a sassy collection that swings between urban, pop and ballads. And with such a potent voice, Mauboy is capable of making it all work. It’s a mystery why she hasn’t had more international success. (Sony) Jeff Jenkins

Cold War Kids New Age Norms 1

Bad//Dreems Doomsday Ballet

Like their later-aughts rocker contemporaries Arcade Fire, California’s Cold War Kids have never been afraid to experiment, and not always to universal praise. But on New Age Norms 1 , frontman Nathan Willet’s laryngitic vocals – once archetypal for their bluesy howl – prove a wicked match for funk. Basically buoyant and ebullient and with grooves for days, New Age Norms 1 is wicked slick throughout, whether it’s pulling sardonic piano pomp on Fine Fine Fine or dimming the lights on 4th of July . With playful commentary to suit, Cold War Kids’s seventh album ought be the new norm indeed. (Inertia) Jake Cleland

Bad//Dreems claim Doomsday Ballet is “less pub, more art” but fromTriffids/Angels references to canyon-echo guitar lines, their third album evokes some of Australia’s best pub acts. Map the genomes: there’s the Eddy Current Suppression Ring churn of opener Morning Rain , the husky jangle of Dick Diver on Harry’s Station , the moody broody rhythm of co-producer Jack Ladder on Cannonball . Which makes its announcement here, in the dusk of the decade, so appropriate. Most touchstones you could point to aren’t too active any more, but Doomsday Ballet takes the best lessons of the 2010s and refreshes them for a new cohort. (Farmer AndThe Owl/BMG) Jake Cleland

Lillie Mae Other Girls Lillie Mae is one of the new breed of young overly-talented artists coming out of Nashville. Having performed in her family band since she was three, and later with her siblings in the group Jypsi, she is an exceptional fiddle player and performer. Signed to Jack White’s Third Man Records (with whom she tours and records), her second album on White’s label is produced by Dave Cobb. Other Girls offers a fresh and vibrant sound that sees Mae stepping sideways from her more traditional leanings to combine her country bluegrass style with a little psychedelic rock, while highlighting her unique, honey-sweet vocals at front and centre. (Third Man Records) Denise Hylands

These New South Whales I Just Do What God Tells Me To Do Self-described as "Sydney’s premier punk outfit” (in their successful mockumentary series), These New South Whales definitely have mad skills as a band. We detect a touch of Regurgitator's Quan Yeomans in Jamie Timony's vocal delivery, and drummer Luke O’Loughlin is an absolute force! Although their second album contains traces of humour – The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease is exactly what's recorded for this track's 30-second duration, and a manipulated voice in the 'title track'/skit calls to mind the 'magic car' section of Wham!'s I'mYour Man remix – this Jonathan Boulet-produced set mainly comprises an abundance of infectious, snappy, in-your-face punk statements such as the guaranteed mosh-troublers It's Its Own Heart , Nerve 2 Reverse , and Talking Out Of Time . (Independent/ADA) Bryget Chrisfield

Brightness Brightness

Brightness’s Alex Knight left it all on the field with 2017’s Teething , a sort of purge he expected to go nowhere that instead took him everywhere. How does one respond to the whiplash from having no expectations to the second album pressure? Well, where Teething tended to crawl in and nestle around the heart like a hug, this self- titled outing feels more like Knight stamping his foot, and his mark, on the world. Louder and bolder, Brightness beefs up the rhythms underscoring Knight’s melodic palette, grounding the textural elements which made his debut so striking, and sounding more self-assured than ever. (I OHYOU) Jake Cleland

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NOVEMBER 2019

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