Midnight Oil, BROODS, William Crighton: New album reviews

Midnight Oil maintain the rage on their first “proper” studio album in 20 years PLUS BROODS and William Crighton.

Midnight Oil (from left) Martin Rotsey, Peter Garrett, Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie and the bass guitar of the late Bones Hillman

This week’s album reviews from The Courier-Mail (ratings out of five stars):

ROCK

Midnight Oil, RESIST

(Sony) ****

On the first “proper” Midnight Oil studio album in 20 years – and the last with late bassist Bones Hillman – the messages remain the same, if not more urgent than ever. Given the current “climate” it’s an earthy, environmentally conscious affair like 1996’s Breathe. The heavily strummy Ends of the Earth, for instance, recalls that effort: “Every creature drinks from the same cup.” The rousing chorus of first single Rising Seas paints a widescreen image of our endangered Earth, while the breezy melodies and harmonies of Reef and the Truganini-like Lost at Sea belie their serious subject matter of climate change and asylum-seeker issues respectively. “Are the ghosts of White Australia in our boardrooms, in our bedrooms?” Peter Garrett wonders on the latter. There’s the sombre U2-like beat of title-ish track We Resist, and what’s arguably the piece de resistance is saved for last: Last Frontier is a rollicking piano-driven singalong about an everyman’s place in the world, with none other than Kamahl making a brief cameo.

ROCK

William Crighton, Water and Dust

(ABC) ***1/2

As if the Oils weren’t busy enough, they also collaborated with William Crighton for this third long-player. It was recorded at Jim Moginie’s Sydney studio with Rob Hirst on drums and frequent Oils collaborator William Barton on didgeridoo, which is peppered throughout to great effect. The opening title track evokes Outback vistas with its ragged guitar: “Every track eventually leads to water.” On incendiary first single Your Country Crighton rages: “I don’t understand why they’re still clearing the land… why our elected leaders become bottom feeders to the corporate man.” Killara is a more subdued tale of colonial Australia that slowly builds in intensity, while the twangy Keep Facing the Sunshine has a sunnier disposition. The rocking This is Magic paints a picture of everyday Cessnock with its female backing harmonies, while on Stand he sings: “You’ve gotta stand with the one who is kind to you.”

ELECTRONIC

BROODS, Space Island

(Island) ***1/2

The pandemic has given Kiwi siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott ample time for self-reflection, and the latest record under their apt stage name represents a range of emotional states, with a certain trippiness (which the cover hints at). At times it’s reminiscent of some of the best purveyors of synth-heavy pop, from The Grid (the percussive, spaced-out If You Fall in Love) to Mutemath (the explosive synth bursts of Like a Woman). There’s the pulsing backbeat of Keep, while danceable earworm Piece of My Mind is a poppy peak. “Do you still exist if no one notices you?” Georgia wonders on the funky, groovy Days Are Passing, and there are quieter, more reflective moments such as Alien and Gas Light (on which her high notes get a workout).