STACK #168 Oct 2018

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Kav Temperley All Your Devotion “I’m tired.” So opens Kav

Paul Kelly Nature Have you noticed that movies are too long nowadays? Songs, too. Unless it’s a classic like Russell Morris’ The Real Thing , should any pop song be longer than three minutes? The masterful Paul Kelly knows that less is more. Nature , his 24th studio album, is a dozen songs that total just 32:40 minutes, with only three tracks running for longer than three minutes. These are simple stories with deceptive depth, including A Bastard Like Me , a powerful tribute to Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins. “I wear the scars,” Kelly sings. “I’ve earned them so hard.” Elsewhere he declares, “Pretty soon we’ll all be dust.” Perhaps, but Paul Kelly’s works will remain. (EMI/Gaddaggie) Jeff Jenkins

Temperley’s debut solo album. But the Eskimo Joe frontman sounds revitalised and renewed. After confronting a marriage break-up and his band deciding to take a break, this is an album of new beginnings. “I don’t even know who I am,” he confesses. But musically he’s surefooted, with his exquisite, expressive pop hitting all the right notes. The music world is littered with the carcasses of lead singers who’ve gone solo. Indeed, as Temperley sings in the album’s first single, Pollyanna , “No one really knows you when you’re out there on your own.” But All Your Devotion deserves a big audience. (Inertia) Jeff Jenkins

John Butler Trio Home More than a decade ago, John Butler stormed Australia’s charts and airwaves with an armoire of almost old-sounding anthems next to the maximalist pop that shared public attention. With turbo-huge country and folk having become hot currency since, how does Butler fare as less of a novelty? Beautifully.

Home isn’t a radical new direction so much as a refreshing change of course. The Trio feel newly confident as they range from wistful folk ( Just Call ) to driving rock jams ( Running Away, Wade in the Water ) to sublime alt-country ( Coffee, Methadone & Cigarettes ) and even electronic balladry ( Brown Eyed Bird ). But wherever it goes, it’s tied together by Butler’s knack for finding the hook. (MGM) Jake Cleland

Gregor Silver Drop

Bob Evans Full Circle “Don’t you think it’s time?” Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans) asks on the opening track of this new album. Yes, after 15 years and five albums, it’s high time for a Bob Evans best-of. Refusing to take the conventional chronological path, Full Circle works as a complete album – if you’re not familiar with Evans’ fine folk- tinged pop, this is the perfect place to start. There’s also a cool new tune, Drowning , and the bonus disc features 10 covers, including Bob’s moving take on the Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen in Love , The Triffids’ classic Wide Open Road and The Beatles’ Two of Us done as a duet with Josh Pyke. (EMI) Jeff Jenkins

Gregor is the project of Gregor Kompar, a Melbourne-based musician who describes his music as “Talking Heads meets Trolls” – an accurate assessment if ever there was one. Kompar’s songs are light and eccentric, littered with pop moments which are contrasted by a droll delivery that’s become distinctly his own. Fishing Net is an early favourite that surprises with its buoyant chorus, while the slow burner Revise Me unfolds over eight glorious minutes. With his languid guitars and punchy samples, Gregor’s charm lies in his off-kilter approach to songwriting, which will no doubt

Perry Keyes Jim Salmon’s Lament “These are just details that don’t mean a thing,” sings Perry Keyes in Let’s Have a Smoke Outside , the opening cut off his fifth album, an instant classic. But don’t believe him – Keyes has a razor- sharp eye for detail, which brings these urban vignettes to life. The protagonist wears Adidas Rome sneakers, a Larco hoodie hides his mullet,

while The Babys’ Isn’t It Time provides the soundtrack to his drug deal. Keyes is the Springsteen you’ve never heard of, the songwriter who shows us the inner-city Sydney you don’t see in the tourism brochures. At the heart of this album is a tale as old as time itself: boy meets girl and they fall in love. But this is no Hollywood romcom, though there’s a wry sense of humour beneath the bleakness. “She was as cool as Evonne Goolagong,” Keyes sings in Hyde Park Hotel. “I was as straight as the Milky Bar Kid.” In the closing track, Bluebird of Unhappiness , he declares, “Some stories can have happy endings.” But not this one. Sometimes all you can do is try to forget. “At least yesterday is gone” is the album’s final line. With that, Keyes is gone, too. Like a spirit in the night. (MGM) Jeff Jenkins

delight and even bemuse. (Chapter Music/Inertia) Holly Pereira

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OCTOBER 2018

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