Album review: A Colour Undone by Tasman Keith, a stunning debut from a strong voice
By drawing upon a broad stylistic palette, this striking release introduces us to different facets of Tasman Keith’s songwriting skill and the wide-ranging scope of his musical influences.
Album reviews for week of July 8, 2022:
HIP-HOP/R&B/POP
A Colour Undone
Tasman Keith
AWAL
Tasman Keith is an artist who has emerged in recent years as one of the most dynamic voices in Australian hip-hop. Having spent much of the past decade establishing himself as a formidable live performer, Keith has used his platform to present unfiltered and unashamedly honest observations on life growing up in the NSW town of Bowraville, navigating through young adulthood while grappling with generational trauma, and embracing the confidence needed to build his musical legacy. His debut album A Colour Undone arrives at a perfect time in Keith’s creative and personal evolution. Drawing upon a broader stylistic palette, the listener is introduced to different facets of his songwriting skill and the wide-ranging scope of his musical influences. The way duality is played on the album speaks to his sharp ear for sound, and his artful balance of light and dark moments make this an immersive listen.
Opener Watch Ur Step feels like a hybrid of Slowthai’s menacing snarl and the glistening aura of The Weeknd, while Cheque — featuring Genesis Owusu, who took home four awards at last year’s ARIAs — calls upon the spirit of Kendrick Lamar; trunk-rattling bass mixes beautifully with switched-up pacing and gospel licks. Keith evidently thrives when switching lanes, and it’s unsurprising A Colour Undone veers in so many different ways. The album was recorded in less than a week and features a litany of impressive guest spots including Jessica Mauboy (Heaven With U), Thandi Phoenix (How 2 Leave), Phil Fresh (IDK) and Kwame, whose collaborative power was proved early on the irresistible stand-alone track One, and is further cemented here on Not 4 Safety. Though this has been touted as a record detailing both a break-up and a journey back to one’s self, Keith does more here to introduce himself and lay everything on the line than ever before. Hip-hop has produced some of the world’s most engaging poets and in Australia so many important stories have been told — and are still waiting to be told — through this engaging art form. Tasman Keith has taken his time to get to this point, and his fullest work to date is marked by a sharpened vision and reawakened determination.
Sosefina Fuamoli
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ELECTRONIC
Loner
Alison Wonderland
EMI
Angst, heartache, joy: Sydney’s Alison Wonderland wears her heart on her sleeve, her vulnerability fuelling a brand of emotive, high-energy electronica that can bring fans to tears. Loner may have been born in the pandemic darkness when she was at rock bottom, but her third album feels like a rebirth. It’s also her most hopeful work yet, and New Day speaks to this sense of empowerment, as the artist born Alexandra Sholler sings “I’m better than the rest” and “I’m in love with a new day” while her trademark big beats and piercing synth lines swirl in the background. Similarly, the lush keys, warm house rhythms and goosebump-inducing vocals on Something Real are up there with her best work. Elsewhere, the pulsating beats and dark arrangement of Eyes Closed are destined for the main stage, while Cocaine sees her deliver a devastating middle finger salute. The closing title track is Wonderland at her most vulnerable, as her vocal rises above shuffling beats to reassure “it’s okay to cry”; heavy stuff, but one senses brighter days are ahead.
Tim McNamara
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INDIE ROCK
Five Rooms
Screamfeeder
Independent
Now 30 years on from its debut album Flour, Brisbane quartet Screamfeeder is still consistent – and consistently catchy – enough to stand out from a crowded field. Despite being forged in the early 1990s, the band’s close harmony of noise and melody doesn’t sound dated on this eighth album. How We Pay is golden power-pop delivered with just enough punky verve, while Everything Is Temporary is equally dreamy and hard-charging. Whether singing individually or together, guitarist Tim Steward and bassist Kellie Lloyd foster a chiming charisma that slots in neatly alongside so many splashy guitar hooks. That sonic balance extends to the way producer Anna Laverty (Camp Cope, Stella Donnelly) interweaves the band’s disorienting effects with its clarifying pop elements. And the lyrics are all too relatable, with Steward describing itchy isolation within the album’s titular handful of spaces on opener Day Crew. Screamfeeder makes it sound easy – right down to the sticky refrains like the one at the heart of Campfire.
Doug Wallen
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POP
Butterfly Blue
Mallrat
Dew Process
Following a string of EPs issued since 2016, Australian dream-pop artist Mallrat (aka Grace Shaw) has released her debut album, which offers an exploration of burgeoning love, heartbreak and youthful apathy. Its 11 tracks bubble with electro-pop sparks, groovy basslines and punk undertones, and is carried by the contrasting earthy-yet-heavenly quality of her singing voice. The album opens with a short prelude, Wish On An Eyelash, which fills just 58 seconds with pretty vocal melodies and spacious synths before jumping into standout song To You, where the title lyrics are sung in a beautifully placed head voice. Surprise Me is a fun R&B bop that contains a surprising and sharp feature from elusive American rapper Azealia Banks. Heart Guitar sounds like softened Avril Lavigne with a gorgeous arpeggio melody on the chorus vocals. I’m Not My Body, It’s Mine features stunning layered vocals and plucked guitar, and the title track is a sombre, bittersweet ballad to end what is overall a pleasing and well-produced debut LP.
Emily Ritchie
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JAZZ
3
States of Chaos
Independent
When a jazz ensemble enters the studio with no preconceived ideas as to what they’ll play, I fear the worst. Sometimes the result undermines those elements in the music which most attract listeners: melodic beauty, familiar rhythms, normal harmonic changes. In this case, Casey Golden (piano), Bill Williams (bass) and Ed Rodrigues (drums) have produced an album where freedom and attractive sounds are exceedingly well-balanced. This trio has been playing together for 12 years, and it shows in the music. This is a brief album of 30 minutes, with 12 short tracks, mere snatches of musical experience. I’ve always found Golden’s pianism deeply attractive, and naturally his brilliant flights of imagination have to lead the way here. Williams and Rodrigues are listening closely, picking up on what he’s playing, and are with him all the way. There’s little of the perversity and didacticism often found in this genre; rather, I hear an organising principle, sending a clear message to the listener, and that’s empathy.
Eric Myers
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Album reviews for week of July 1, 2022:
INDIE POP/ROCK
Here Comes Everybody
Spacey Jane
AWAL
The highest-ranking Australian song on Triple J’s Hottest 100 poll for 2020 – and landing just one spot shy of the top – Spacey Jane’s Booster Seat was a perfectly relatable (and replayable) slice of poignancy for the pandemic’s first year. In it, singer/guitarist Caleb Harper described the quicksand grip of anxiety, even as the Fremantle quartet applied bright-eyed guitar-pop to those downbeat sentiments. That’s generally how the band operates, both on its 2020 debut Sunlight and on this well-crafted follow-up. The music is catchy and accessible, and Harper’s plaintive singing sounds fairly resilient, never edging into exaggerated emotion. But listen to the lyrics, and there’s a recurring theme of feeling lost. That makes Here Comes Everybody another inventory of loose ends that’s cleaner and more classic-sounding than Sunlight, with its contrast between perky melodies and wobbly emotions going back to The Go-Betweens.
Against the chiming jangle of Clean My Car, Harper blames romantic distress for a lack of interest in his daily routine, but his listlessness probably extends far beyond that. Both propulsive opener Sitting Up and the slower, dreamier Not What You Paid For reference self-medicating with alcohol, with the latter memorably admitting personal defeat: “You caught me at a bad time / But to be honest there hasn’t been a good one for a while.” If songs like that one and Haircut – which calls the titular act “a shitty attempt at a change-up” – sound like pure downers in theory, they’re rounded out by the band’s warm melodic sensibilities and shimmering forward motion. Bassist Peppa Lane, guitarist Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu and drummer Kieran Lama share a wavelength and add valuable shades of depth to Harper’s understated laments, as on Lunchtime, which rides an itchy momentum through to a bracing chorus. Taking its name from the working title for Wilco’s 2001 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Here Comes Everybody is much more subtle and controlled than that famously experimental outing. Yet Harper’s lyrics capture a similar sense of searching and grasping at evasive resolution in three- and four-minute bursts. His problems won’t disappear overnight, but putting them to paper is worthwhile nonetheless, as much for him as for the rest of us.
Doug Wallen
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INDIE POP
A Bit of Previous
Belle & Sebastian
Matador Records
Self-produced in the veteran indie pop ensemble’s native Glasgow, Belle & Sebastian’s ninth album plays a bit like a career retrospective. The squirrely disco detour of 2015’s Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is well represented with sixth track Prophets on Hold, while the howling harmonica on Unnecessary Drama calls back to 1990s gems like Me and the Major. De facto leader Stuart Murdoch’s lyrics are less bookish and intricate than they once were, but he remains playful, marking middle age with a twinkle of the eye on opener Young and Stupid. There’s even some gravel salting his usually uncreased voice during the quietly empowering album closer, titled Working Boy in New York City. As for his fellow songwriters, lead guitarist Stevie Jackson leans into weepy country on Deathbed of My Dreams and violinist Sarah Martin describes women’s justified concerns about walking after dusk on the whirring synth-pop standout Reclaim the Night. It all makes for a rewarding cross-section of the band’s past and present.
Doug Wallen
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JAZZ
Before Now After
The Java Quartet
Dharma Records
This is the Java Quartet’s eighth album, its first since 2014, manifesting the unusual but unique vision of double bassist Michael Galeazzi. He is supported by three great musicians: Matthew Ottignon (tenor sax), Greg Coffin (piano), and Mike Quigley (drums). A relatively short album of 50 minutes, it has three compositions by Galeazzi exploring the Dorian scale, described as “a meditation upon time, a sonic homage to the evolutionary arc”. Minimalism is operating here, giving the album its dominant character, that of introspection. It’s a slow burn, with the musicians aiming for mood, if not a spiritual experience. Coffin’s approach is somewhat reminiscent of Matt McMahon’s constrained pianism in Phil Slater’s celebrated album The Dark Pattern. Each piece begins with a bass statement from Galeazzi, with subtle support from Coffin, and it’s an energising trip for the listener, as the music builds from that intimate space. Peaks are reached, particularly in the superb solos of Ottignon, but the overall ambience is contemplative.
Eric Myers
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ELECTRONIC
Wet Tennis
Sofi Tukker
Ultra / Sony Music
It was always going to be tough to follow the Grammy-nominated grab-bag of sounds that was 2018’s debut Treehouse, but Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern have escaped second album syndrome in convincing fashion. From the delicious guitar lick and Portuguese-language vocals of plucky opener Kakee, the US duo mines a wealth of worldly sounds and influences, their vocals bouncing off each other to glorious effect on tracks like standout Original Sin. Wet Tennis is an acronym – “when everyone tries to evolve, nothing negative is safe” – that goes to the heart of Sofi Tukker’s playful, optimistic aesthetic. The title track’s horns and cheeky vocals are party-read, while Forgive Me revels in a chugging beat and searching strings that lift Hawley-Weld’s haunting vocal to new heights, while the nostalgic Summer in New York charms via its sample of Suzanne Vega’s classic Tom’s Diner. At 35 minutes, Wet Tennis is over too soon, but with the duo touring this month, there’s opportunity for a rematch.
Tim McNamara
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WORLD
Aun Creo En La Belleza
Nano Stern
Independent
Chilean singer-songwriter Nano Stern has wowed Australian festivalgoers from Woodford to WOMADelaide during a raft of live performances over the past 15 years, and he continues to flourish as a recording artist. Here, he consolidates his ever-burgeoning reputation with another top-class album that’s replete with melodic beauty and poetic passion. Channelling the spirit of his country’s social-movement music, nueva cancion — especially its long-gone guiding lights, Victor Jara and Violeta Parra — Stern wears his heart on his sleeve as he delves into his “inner worlds and landscapes”. The title track, which translates to “I still believe in beauty”, is a self-tagged manifesto. Stern covers considerable ground musically, from a finger-picked solo ballad and a delightful duet with compatriot Magdalena Matthey to regally upbeat numbers in which he is assisted by guest artists from Argentina and Peru. The maestro’s ultra-soulful singing (in passionate, atmospheric Spanish) and virtuosity on guitar and violin is never less than mesmeric.
Tony Hillier
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Album reviews for week of June 24, 2022:
RETRO POP/SOUL
Neon Soul
O’Shea
Sony Music Australia
The fifth album from vocal duo Jay and Mark O’Shea, an expat Australian couple based in Nashville, Tennessee, veers away from the alt-country of past releases into less categorisable territory. While the call-to-party title track ploughs a Stax/Motown groove with upfront horns and frisky Hammond organ, the retro soul vibe shading the other nine songs is far more understated. By uncanny coincidence, last month’s Texas mass shooting is presaged in the timely Thoughts and Prayers, an impassioned (if futile) plea for US gun law reform: “Why am I afraid to send my kids to school?” Mark O’Shea sings over skeletal piano and cello. “More than just flying flags at half mast / More than just a minute of silence to pass … There’s gotta be more than thoughts and prayers / To make a difference.” It’s not the only sombre moment on Neon Soul: third track Nashville, Indiana, also sung by Mark, is an anthem for the also-rans, a nod to those who fall through the cracks of recognition: “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with Nashville, Indiana / or Paris, Tennessee / or London, Alabama.”
To describe Jay O’Shea as the lighter half of the duo is to do her considerable vocal chops an injustice. She brings wicked sass to the ’60s soul-pop of Say Nothing, sends herself up mercilessly in Bridezilla (It Only Gets Better), shoots sharp from the lip on Take My Name and plays big-haired soul diva on the title track, but then gets deadly serious with Watch Me Quit, a frank essay on motherhood that wrenches every last drop of emotion. There’s a playful duet on coupledom, Me Like You (“Let’s stay up late and look at mansions online we can’t afford”), and they’re not above a cheesy ballad (the overwrought Tunnels, Bridges), but O’Shea succeeds on the strength of its songwriting as much as individual vocal prowess. Smokin’ On a Plane, for instance, by its very title addresses a bad idea that might have seemed good at the time or was just plain dumb, like “rock’n’roll ain’t music / or science is a sin / or you can judge somebody / by the colour of their skin”. Like we heard on 2020’s The Lost And The Found — a criminally under-appreciated album that Jay O’Shea co-wrote and recorded with her long-lost biological father, Midnight Oil drummer and songwriter Rob Hirst — this is pop music with two functioning brains, sung beautifully with plenty to say.
Phil Stafford
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INDIE ROCK
Alpha Games
Bloc Party
BMG
Alpha Games captures Bloc Party in a period of reinvigoration. Once leaders of Britain’s 2000s indie wave, the quartet enters its sixth album era with the elements of its youthful ferocity intact, although these 12 tracks are definitive of its matured chemistry, ripened for 2022. Tight percussion and rhythms remain the champions here; Day Drinker and Traps both exemplify these seductive pressures. Vocalist Kele Okereke steers the record: a poet who delivers his narratives in almost equal parts singing and spoken word. He can be effortlessly melodic (You Should Know the Truth) and menacing in the next beat (Callum is a Snake). The fusion of light and dark tones harks back to Bloc Party’s seminal Silent Alarm period, though doesn’t leave us hankering for days gone by. Alpha Games mixes the band’s best moments – heady euphoria, emotional swells – with a refreshed vision of where it’s heading from here. The train keeps rolling and with dancefloors full to bursting again, this album may just be the ticket for indie-themed parties near you.
Sosefina Fuamoli
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JAZZ
The Art of Collaboration
Simone Waddell
Ambition Records
This amazing album, Simone Waddell’s fifth, has so much going for it, it’s difficult to know where to start. A gorgeous singer, her talent of Kate Ceberano proportions, Waddell moves effortlessly between jazz, soul and pop genres. Twelve tracks include excellent versions of five classic hits from John Farnham, Midnight Oil, Daryl Braithwaite, Crowded House and INXS, plus impressive originals mostly written by Waddell herself. Sixty musicians and singers were enlisted, recording in 16 studios in Australia, Britain and the US. Jazz icons such as James Morrison, Paul Grabowsky, James Greening and Tommy Emmanuel are here, and singers include Rai Thystlethwayte, Pat Powell and Barry Leef. The sound is impeccable, and the considerable promotional clout behind the release — extremely rare for what is essentially a jazz album — results in a very glossy package indeed. A big investment has paid off handsomely. I daresay that Australian music has rarely seen such a prodigious assembly of talent congregated on one superb album.
Eric Myers
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ELECTRONIC
Profound Mysteries
Royksopp
Dog Triumph / PIAS
Eight years after bidding “goodbye to the traditional album format” with fifth LP The Inevitable End, Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland return with an ambitious multimedia project comprising a collection of short films and 10 expansive tracks that, for the most part, are up there with the Norwegian duo’s best work. Sink right in; Royksopp has applied its meticulous production approach to serve up a collection of vocal numbers traversing a range of tempos, as well as moody, outerworldly instrumentals. Standout single Impossible snarls with brooding intensity atop a synth line and thumping percussion, balanced by Alison Goldfrapp’s inimitable vocal. The driving techno of This Time, This Place featuring Beki Mari, and the club-focused rhythms of Breathe featuring Astrid S, meanwhile, both similarly impress. Elsewhere, The Ladder is Sunday morning synth-pop that evokes memories of Air, while the atmospheric, beatless The Mourning Sun shines on the back of Susanne Sundfor’s soaring vocal and little else; restraint rewarded.
Tim McNamara
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INDIE ROCK
We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
Sharon Van Etten
Jagjaguwar
In the decade since her 2012 breakthrough Tramp, Sharon Van Etten has become one of the most dependable voices in indie rock. Her sixth album continues that streak, reflecting on pandemic-era life in her family’s recently adopted Los Angeles. Largely recorded herself at her home studio, this stormy outing is as impressive for its sonic scope as it is for Van Etten’s gripping lyrics and versatile, room-filling vocals. Pleasantly wispy at times and darkly portentous at others, her singing is never less than deeply engaging. Observe the prolonged lift to the title phrase on the shoegazey I’ll Try, one of many robust swells anchored to a noisy undercurrent. Similarly, the almost industrial percussive edge to Headspace seems to manifest the ominous mantra, “Baby, don’t turn your back to me”. Van Etten released no singles in advance of this record, preferring it to be absorbed as a single work. That was a wise strategy for such a sustained feat of atmosphere and conviction.
Doug Wallen