Thelma Plum’s lasting message of empowerment
Album No.2 is a quietly assured successor to Plum’s breakout 2019 debut Better in Blak, from her vocals to the varied arrangements wherein no song crosses the four-minute mark.
Album reviews for week of November 1 2024:
POP/FOLK
I’m Sorry, Now Say It Back
Thelma Plum
Warner Music Australia
It’s been five years since Thelma Plum’s debut album Better in Blak, which yielded seven ARIA nominations and three multi-platinum singles, including the unforgettable title track. That stretch of time has given the Gamilaraay singer-songwriter plenty of opportunity to look inward, so it’s no surprise that self-reflection is a major theme throughout her follow-up. Co-written with G Flip and Aidan Hogg, the early track Hurricane even mentions looking into the mirror as Plum thinks back upon where she was two and three decades ago. Like many of these songs, it’s a pop ballad about choosing the direction in life that’s right for you (and you alone). But first comes a reckoning with the past: Guwop details being hung up on your ex even after they’ve started dating someone else, while I Don’t Play That Song Anymore sees Plum lament with characteristic directness, “When I was younger, I wish I knew better.” Set to an appropriately galloping rhythm, Cowboy in the Rain touches on both the power and limitations of personal transformation: “I shaved my head and it grew back / I changed my clothes but they’re still black”.
Against a baggy beat and references to walking along Brisbane River, We Don’t Talk About It is a cautionary tale about women not heeding other women’s warnings about certain men. Yet it’s delivered in a radio-friendly package, just as other tracks spin fairly sombre subject matter into snappy pop. Nobody’s Baby contrasts its dark lyrics with mid-tempo disco flourishes, while the waltz-like flow of Koala belies Plum apologising for being broken. Working with multi-instrumentalist/producer Alex Burnett – a repeat collaborator of hers – and Oli Horton, Plum doesn’t try to replicate a singular rallying cry on the level of 2019’s Better in Blak. But such a career signature is unlikely to repeat itself so soon, and this is a quietly assured successor, from her vocal performances to the varied arrangements. Despite no entry crossing the four-minute mark, these songs impart a lasting message of empowerment, even if that simply means not settling for less than you deserve. “I wanted more / It’s not enough,” Plum admits on the emotional centrepiece Golden Touch. Amongst all those encouraging tales of learning and growth, the single Freckles voices a rousing celebration of unconditional love. Plum just knows that we might have to go through an awful lot before we get there.
Doug Wallen
INDIE POP
Time is a Flower
Telenova
EMI
Melbourne’s Telenova is composed of three capable, talented indie-pop musicians. They seem to know their way around songwriting and production too, having handled both for debut album Time is a Flower. So why, exactly, is it so difficult for Telenova’s music to click? One key culprit could be the band’s politeness. No-one’s expecting them to start throwing TVs out of hotel windows anytime soon, but the music predominantly presents edgeless, bubble-wrapped and inconsequential compositions that dare not raise their voice for fear of a neighbour’s noise complaints. There’s a pleasant sway to groove along to when it comes to more upbeat tracks like the peppy Margot and the lush January, indicating at least a modicum of potential. Away from that, however, the band ultimately starts to blend in with the wallpaper via its saccharine synth-strings and Angeline Armstrong’s increasingly woozy vocal delivery. The trio describes its sound as “cinema for your ears”, but on Time is a Flower, it feels more like falling asleep in front of the television.
David James Young
FOLK/POP
Nara
Emily Wurramara
ABC Music
Since the release of her acclaimed 2018 debut Milyakburra, Emily Wurramara has run the gamut of human experience, from immense highs to crushing lows, the results of which are laid bare across her new record, Nara. Now based in Tasmania, her second album offers a deeply personal journey through a markedly eclectic musical landscape. From the slow-banging rock ‘n’ roll of Midnight Blues, we’re presented with a new sonic direction, a departure from pure folk, for Wurramara who reflects, “It was when I had nothing, that I realised I had everything” — a sentiment which colours the entirety of Nara (the Anindilyakwa word for “nothing”). The electronica of DTMN and STFAFM (featuring younger brother Arringarri) meld seamlessly with the folkier Friend and See Me There (featuring childhood hero Lisa Mitchell), showcasing Wurramara’s wont to dig deeper and experiment musically. Wrapping neatly with the beautifully ethereal Passport, Nara offers a gorgeous melange of sound and style. Above all it’s a sonic gamble for Wurramara, but one which easily pays off.
Samuel J. Fell
ELECTRONIC
Harmonics
Joe Goddard
Domino Recordings
As co-founder of indie dance darlings Hot Chip, Joe Goddard has, over 20-plus years, become synonymous with musical immersion. As a solo artist, however, the Grammy-nominated producer and remixer has charted a deeper path. On his third solo album and follow up to 2017’s excellent Electric Lines, Goddard has gone all-in on empathy, fashioning 14 tracks of warm, if often restless, pop-tinged electronica, with nods to UK garage, house, disco and hip-hop. Again indulging his love of vintage and analog synths, Goddard largely delivers on his aim of a “loving, romantic, fun” album. Multiple guests — including his Hot Chip bandmates, on slow-burner Mountains — add lyrical depth to his crisp, swirling productions. Opener Moments Die strikes an early high note via Goddard’s back-and-forth vocal with Brooklyn singer Barrie, while New World (Flow) combines a contemplative melody with Fiorious’s defiant vocal. Progress is an afro-house groove elevated by horns; in contrast, Oranje’s upfront rap on When Love’s Out of Fashion hits harder via stuttering beats and warbling, ominous synths, while the dirty bassline-led groove of Summon is a chugging, mid-album standout.
Tim McNamara
ALTERNATIVE POP
Zorb
Sycco
Future Classic
Brisbane-born singer-songwriter Sycco (aka Sash McLeod) was viewed as one of the wilder signings for tastemaker electronic label Future Classic only a few years back — but on a refreshingly bonkers, synth-heavy debut record, she more than proves her bona fides. A literal confectionary store of sounds, Zorb encapsulates the manic TikTok-ification of pop music, putting her more in line with labelmate and one-time collaborator Flume in her quest for new textures and arrangements. McLeod’s clear and winsome vocals allow her to traverse an album stuffed full of collaborators that twist and bend her in every direction, belting it like Remi Wolf on the Chrome Sparks-penned Swarm or indulging her penchant for psych-rock on Bad World. It helps that McLeod has been on the festival circuit for a while, meaning she’s equally comfortable performing dramatic R&B ballads (I’m Here Now) as she is punk-funk freakouts (The End). Despite being deliberately disparate, Zorb is an engaging body of work from a promising young Australian artist that doesn’t feel like it’s been A&R’d to death.
Jonathan Seidler
