Album review: Spacey Jane fishes for hits on If That Makes Sense

On the latest effort by this ARIA-winning WA rock quartet, what have we got? Not-so-pretty emotions set to pretty music that’s expertly played and smooth as glass, but with few edges.

Fremantle indie rock band Spacey Jane, whose third album 'If That Makes Sense' was released in 2025. Picture: Cole Barash

Album reviews for week of May 10 2025:

 

INDIE ROCK

If That Makes Sense

Spacey Jane

AWAL

★★★

After a half-minute intro of what sounds like backwards tape loops, there’s a big intake of breath and a small silence. And then Spacey Jane’s third album officially begins. It’s almost as if frontman Caleb Harper is steeling himself to bare his soul about his past, while wrestling with the present. If you know one song from this Perth quartet it’s probably Booster Seat, which snagged second spot on the 2020 Triple J Hottest 100 and earned an ARIA Award for song of the year. It encapsulated the band’s m.o. in four-and-a-half minutes: cruisy indie pop, with lyrics delving into anxiety and depression, latching onto a memory of being in the back of a car, restrained in a child’s seat. Five years later, some things have changed. For a start, the band has exploded in popularity. Its second album, 2022’s Here Comes Everybody, spawned six songs that made the Hottest 100, and next month it’ll undertake a national tour before about 60,000 fans that includes an unprecedented seven sold-out shows in its hometown of Fremantle. Another change? Harper decamped to Los Angeles to work on songs for the third album. This has become a rite of passage for many Australian artists who reach a certain level of success, wherein they opt for speed-dating with a series of US songwriters to see if the magic happens. But there’s always a danger that in fishing for the hits with the big kahunas in La-La Land, you sacrifice what made you special in the first place.

First impressions of If That Makes Sense indicate it’s the glossiest collection the band has recorded, with producer Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Wolf Alice) buffing and burnishing the sound. Harper, lead guitarist Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu, bass player Peppa Lane and drummer Kieran Lama always had polish. But here they sometimes get stuck in the mid-tempo zone, remaining in third gear with chiming instrumentation and a whole lot of sobbing reverb whacked on Harper’s vocals. At times, such as on Falling Apart, it even seems to channel the ’80s blow-dried power-balladry of John Waite or 1927. Harper has retained his knack for writing about bad times by hanging them on Polaroid-like images, or elements of the everyday. So, a song about a relationship that is wilting and dying due to lack of care is called How To Kill Your Houseplants, and another, about longing for someone due to a separation, is called Estimated Delivery, with a verse about buying something online that you don’t really want, adding it to your cart and constantly checking on when it will arrive. So, what have we got? Not-so-pretty emotions set to pretty music that’s expertly played and smooth as glass, but with few edges. When the musicians raise the pulse rate — by injecting some swing and sting into The More That It Hurts, and unleashing a locomotive rattler of a track in All The Noise — the album gets a noticeable lift, reminding us of what got it noticed on its early EPs. If only Spacey Jane did that more often.

Barry Divola

 

JAZZ

The Exhibits

The Exhibits

Independent

★★★★½

For a musician widely considered Australia’s greatest jazz guitarist, James Muller’s recording output over the years has been slim. His last outing under his own leadership was seven years ago, with his 2018 album Live at Wizard Tone. Meanwhile, he has been featured as a sideman on several albums under other leaders. The Exhibits is therefore a welcome venture, which confirms that Muller’s powers are as impressive as ever. If anything, his playing in 2025 reveals the high degree of maturity he now possesses. He is fortunate to have discovered in Adelaide the superb bassist Lyndon Gray, whose five extremely interesting compositions sustain the album, and whose brilliant improvisations give it real distinction. The other three compositions are written by Muller, and are just as interesting. The quartet also includes Tom Noonan (alto saxophone) and Josh Baldwin (drums), both excellent players doing everything right behind the virtuosos Muller and Gray. Such a fine album suggests that this outstanding quartet is now carrying the flag for jazz in Adelaide.

Eric Myers

 

ROCK/EXPERIMENTAL

After the Flood

Ed Kuepper & Jim White

Remote Control

★★★★

Few artists revisit and rework their previous material as often as Ed Kuepper. He has dipped back into The Saints’ early catalogue with his all-star ‘73-’78 live project and resurrected his unrecorded songs for that iconic Brisbane band in The Aints. Now paired with prolific drummer Jim White (Dirty Three, The Hard Quartet), Kuepper recasts songs from across his solo albums as well as his years leading Laughing Clowns. And yes, there’s a Saints entry for good measure: Swing for the Crime, a thrilling showcase of tight musical grappling that reminds us that everything here was recorded live in the room. That sense of spontaneity is ever-present, from the ominous, juddering opening of The Crying Dance to the more jaunty and melodic The 16 Days. The two players reliably commit to frayed dirges that bristle with volatility alongside Kuepper’s idiosyncratic vocal mantras. He finishes the album with a deadpan flourish on Miracle, closing with the lyric “I don’t like the way it ends” after a gripping escalation in both tempo and intensity.

Doug Wallen

 

PROGRESSIVE ROCK

Vaxis – Act III: The Father of Make Believe

Coheed & Cambria

Virgin Music Group

★★★½

Nyack, New York prog rock icons Coheed and Cambria enters its third decade as a band this year, and as it’s proven with album No. 11, Vaxis: Act III: The Father Of Make Believe, there’s still innovation and creativity to explore. Elements of the album feel warmly nostalgic for those who have followed the band’s extensive journey of sonic-world building (Goodbye, Sunshine), while expansive choruses and melody nod to its consistency in vision (The Father of Make Believe, Play the Poet). Under the guidance of songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Claudio Sanchez, Coheed and Cambria’s work has fused fiction with inspiration stemming from real memory in a way that feels fantastical — unsurprisingly, its music has been adapted into graphic novels — but always accessible. With this album, Sanchez and his band gladly welcome the listener back into this space through tracks like Yesterday’s Gone, which lets a kaleidoscope of punk and prog rock notes take us on a solid journey of tempo, emotion and ferocious energy. The Father of Make Believe heralds a new chapter in Coheed and Cambria’s ever-deepening story as a band; in all, it’s a brilliantly fleshed out tapestry of ideas that will appeal to fans new and old alike.

Sosefina Fuamoli

 

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Moonlight Concessions

Throwing Muses

Fire Records

★★★

In her raw, confronting, but surprisingly funny 2010 memoir Rat Girl, Kristin Hersh of US band Throwing Muses compared its music to spinach. “We’re ragged and bitter,” she wrote. “But, I swear to God, we’re good for you.” Its 11th album serves things up slightly differently, eschewing the band’s familiar electric howl for something more subdued. Drums are almost entirely absent, with tambourine, shakers and other percussion providing the pulse. And the guitars are largely acoustic, with guest musician Pete Harvey offering the main melodic sweeteners with his cello. Opener Summer of Love apparently sprung from a one-dollar bet Hersh made with someone who said our emotions change with the seasons. “I owe you a buck,” she murmurs towards the end, admitting the guy was right. On an intense album that’s both minor-key and low-key, Drugstore Dramatic cuts through the sepia tones; with a nervy urgency reminiscent of the debut Violent Femmes’ album, Hersh offers snapshots of a back-and-forth conversation with someone under the influence. “It’s just that you’re moving weirdly slow-mo,” she sings in her distinctive gritty rasp, adding some spice to the spinach.

Barry Divola

Album reviews for week of May 3 2025:

 

INDIE ROCK/PSYCHEDELIC ROCK

Golden Wolf

Dope Lemon

BMG

★★★½

On his fifth outing as Dope Lemon, Angus Stone has almost shed all hint of the jangly rock ‘n’ roll that characterised his first offering under the moniker. Where 2016’s Honey Bones sounded more like The Brian Jonestown Massacre, a decade later things have taken a turn for the islands. The influence of Jim Morrison still underpins things here – the mostly instrumental closing jam Dust of a Thousand Stars even throws in a sitar and an organ to make things feel particularly Apocalypse Now – but, like the latest offering from his duo act with younger sister Julia, Stone turns up the chill factor here and opts to trade brooding indie rock for psychedelic jams crafted to soundtrack a good time. Stone’s determination to keep things laid-back occasionally detracts from the overall quality, though notably on Maggie’s Moonshine, which is several sax solos too long. Likewise, the trio of Sugarcat, Electric Green Lambo and the title track all blur into one woozy, sun-soaked jam that fades into the background too easily at times. Despite this sense of sameness that runs through this record, there’s no denying it’s all exceptionally well made. From the opening of John Belushi — whose title is an unexpected callback to the Saturday Night Live fan favourite of old — Stone’s voice glides above a bed of blissed-out guitars and non-invasive percussion. She’s All Time and On the 45 are standouts; jams perfectly composed for a late-afternoon set on a festival field or a beach holiday.

However, the album’s most exciting moment is its most significant point of difference: a cover of the drony yet somewhat aggressive indie-psych track Yama Yama by 1970s act Yamasuki. While the original comes in at 2½ minutes, Stone stretches things out double the length, with the welcome addition of trippy guitars over the original samples and some English verses. It’s a fantastic re-imagining of one hell of a deep cut, and proof of the Byron Bay-based artist’s impressive musical hinterland. The appearance of Stone’s throat-singing is the cherry on top of a surprising and enthralling moment. Compared to his previous work, Golden Wolf doesn’t scale the same emotive heights as his Dope Lemon debut, nor the edge of his last album under the moniker, the ARIA- nominated Kimosabe (2023). However, this is still an entertaining entry into his singular catalogue, and truth be told, it far exceeds the last LP he put his name to: Angus and Julia‘s 2024 release Cape Forestier. True, the bongos and the talk-singing become trying after a while, but it’s impossible not to listen to the blissed-out dub grooves of Electric Green Lambo or the chill-wave, road trip anthem We Solid Gold and not allow yourself a smile. It might not work to take it all in at once, but Golden Wolf achieves its goal of inviting the listener to savour the journey rather than the destination. With beautiful production courtesy of Stone’s bandmate Ben Edgar, Golden Wolf is easy to listen to and will satisfy fans of both Stone’s solo and duo work. While the jangly guitars and folk sensibilities are largely gone, his knack for crafting songs to suit a mood is stronger than ever. Best familiarise yourself with these songs – if you’re under 40, they’ll probably soundtrack your house parties, BBQs and long drives for the next few years.

Alasdair Belling

 

JAZZ

Leaps of Faith

Richard Maegraith Band

ABC Jazz

★★★★

Australian tenor saxophonist Richard Maegraith, now living and working in Berlin, leads here an impressive quintet. At the Sydney Conservatorium in the 1990s Maegraith explored the music of US cool school saxophonist Warne Marsh for his Masters thesis, A Study of Tension and Release. Leaps of Faith is the outcome of Maegraith’s desire to emulate the purity and rhythmic subtlety of Marsh’s legendary melodic lines. There’s much on this album to interest current listeners. The pianist, Henri Peipman, hitherto unknown to me, grew up in Sydney with his Estonian parents, and was a contemporary of Maegraith’s at the Conservatorium. His pianism adds real distinction to this album, as does the ethereal sound of Daryl Pratt’s vibraphone. Noteworthy is the outstanding playing of two then developing youngsters Mark Lau (bass) and David Goodman (drums). This album was recorded long ago in 2000 by the ABC for Jim McLeod’s Jazztrack, and congratulations to ABC Jazz for unearthing it. To my ears it does not sound dated and is completely worthy of current release.

Eric Myers

 

INDIE POP

Hi, It’s Nice to Meet Me

Mia Wray

Mushroom Music

★★★½

As one would expect from the title of Mia Wray’s debut long-player, this is indeed an introduction to this Noosa-born artist, one on which she wears her heart firmly upon her sleeve; a stark look at the thoughts, hopes and dreams that have been swirling through Wray’s creative mind. Beginning with the folky, echoed title refrain that then bleeds into an up-tempo beat driven by synthesiser, Wray launches into an album that explores her journey through personal discovery, including relationships and her sexuality. Time-honoured themes, to be sure, but Wray imbues them with a feeling of hope that doesn’t bog them down, no matter how often she revisits. The soaring chorus of What If, as she wonders and hopes; Not the Same As Yesterday, detailing her own personal growth; moody club banger The Way She Moves – all combine to paint a picture of Wray as a person and artist in a way that belies her years. The album finishes in fine style with the striking piano-led Everybody Knows, a simple track that truly showcases the beauty of her voice while capping an assured release.

Samuel J. Fell

 

METALCORE

Tsunami Sea

Spiritbox

Pale Chord/Rise

★★★½

The saying goes that women in music are dangerously underestimated. Exhibit A: Courtney LaPlante, of Canadian metal juggernaut Spiritbox, who achieved a career milestone attending the 2025 Grammys as a nominee for best metal performance … only to be mistaken for fellow female nominee Poppy by a red-carpet interviewer. On Tsunami Sea, you’re not mistaking LaPlante for anybody else. She dominates the record with her Jekyll-and-Hyde duality of guttural harsh screams (No Loss, No Love) and soaring sung vocals (Perfect Soul) as her bandmates oscillate between squealing metallic hardcore and expansive prog-rock. Though the album dutifully picks up exactly where 2021’s Eternal Blue left off, and there’s a pinch of a holding pattern to Spiritbox’s schismatic sonic approach, there’s at least a handful of sonic detours that keep things fresh: see the electric breakbeats of Crystal Rose, which excitedly adds drum and bass into the mix to great effect. Furthermore, highlights of the LP – such as the djent-flavoured, hook-driven title track – make for some of the strongest Spiritbox tracks thus far. Underestimate it at your own peril.

David James Young

 

PROGRESSIVE ROCK

The Overview

Steven Wilson

Fiction Records

★★★½

In the third decade of his career, Steven Wilson finally seems at ease with being a prog nerd. Having shunned the label throughout his breakout years at the forefront of metallic-tinged proggers Porcupine Tree – not to mention a foray into art pop for his recent solo output – on The Overview, the British artist has now gone all-in on his love of Yes and Pink Floyd, with a two-part odyssey on outer space. It doesn’t get much nerdier than that. Admittedly, this isn’t the first time Wilson has harked back to the glory days of ’70s capes and keyboards – 2013’s The Raven That Refused To Sing will always be a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for prog fans – but album highlights The Buddha of the Modern Age, Objects: Meanwhile and Borrowed Atoms are proof of an artist still able to fuse hooks with the spirit of the cape-and-keyboard movement. Wilson’s love of Tangerine Dream also shines through here, notably on the A Beautiful Infinity suite and closer Permanence. While done well, these moments detract from the album’s more grandiose heights. The Overview isn’t quite as ambitious as it may promise on paper, but it’s still sure to satisfy the Wilson prog purists.

Alasdair Belling

Album reviews for week of April 26 2025:

 

ALTERNATIVE PUNK ROCK

Viagr Aboys

Viagra Boys

Shrimptech Enterprises

★★★★

In a single decade, Scandi punks Viagra Boys have surged past most of their peers to become one of the most intriguing groups of the ongoing post-punk revival. The sextet’s place at the helm of the politically charged, hard-touring new wave of punk is solidified here on their sort-of self-titled fourth LP, wonderfully captured by producer Pelle Gunnerfeldt – an absolute must-have on the controls for any Swedish rock band looking to move the needle. Indeed, this is an outstanding entry record for anyone looking to get into modern punk, or a potential re-entry point into the genre for the older, sceptical listener. Do Idles engage in too much sloganeering for you? The tongue-in-cheek reflections of You N33d Me might be for you. Is the intellectual blog-post-bashing of Yard Act a bit too snobbish for you? The raving, ranting sermon of Best In Show Pt. IV will, I promise, actually make you laugh and reassess the world all at once. The woodwind maelstrom of Black Country, New Road just a little bit too much? Man Made of Meat and The Bog Body package up sax-infused punk in a much more palatable way. If anything, this album could, like Fontaines DC‘s Romance from last year, serve as a marker for how this entire genre has matured over the past few years. Of particular note here for faithful followers is the return of guitars to the forefront. Whereas 2022’s Cave World dabbled in new-wave and even country sounds, here the band is primarily making rock music, albeit still splattered – but not soaked – with electronic interests. Dirty Boyz and Waterboy stick out as the best examples of this, with dirty synths and slack-jawed vocals delivered over mid-tempo beats and fuzzy guitars that sound ripped from the L7/Nirvana playbook.

Of course, to claim this is a “back to the well” record would risk overlooking the wonderful piano-led closer River King – which veers into Nick Cave territory – and perhaps the most experimental track here, the 90s-era Beck-sounding Pyramid Health, is the album highlight, wherein Sebastian Murphy leers like a whisky-soaked beat poet over an unsettling bed of roiling synths and woodwinds. What is undeniable here, though, is that Viagra Boys have gotten a lot better at songwriting, and they don’t allow experimentation to get in the way of just rocking here. Frontman Murphy once again plays (and sings, and moans, and yells) a blinder here – but while past performances may have been far more politically charged, here things turn inward, with a self-loathing dialogue about World War II facts, regrets about bad diets, and even musing on what it must be like being his dog all making appearances. Ultimately, though, the shift in subject matter doesn’t detract from the results, with Murphy turning out his catchiest batch of tunes yet, particularly on the earworms Medicine for Horses and You N33d Me. On this album, Viagra Boys have focused themselves and redirected their anger at conspiracy theorists and vaccine-sceptic Reddit threads into their songwriting, and the results are fantastic. Have they produced another Swedish contribution to the punk bible, a la The Shape of Punk To Come (Refused) or Veni Vidi Vicious (The Hives)? Of course not, and nor are they trying to. But have they now proved that they are a band capable of such a feat? Absolutely.

Alasdair Belling

 

POP/DANCE

We Always Had Tomorrow

Miami Horror

Nettwerk

★★★½

Twin layers of nostalgia inform producer Benjamin Plant’s first album as Miami Horror in a decade. First there’s the dreamy gazing back to mid-century disco and soul, and then there’s equal fondness for the other aughts acts who plumbed those same eras so well, from The Avalanches to Justice. Originally based in Melbourne and now in Los Angeles, Plant remains very savvy with both samples and collaborators, tapping producers Styalz Fuego and Alice Ivy and a bevy of guest singers. Michael Harding (aka Mr Maph) steals the show with throwback vocal curlicues on Glowin, while Ayoni and Beckah Amani play well with a sample from obscure soul singer Errol Stubbs on the suite-like Together. Plant’s wide-screen creations are sumptuous and floaty, but he has a habit of buffing away any rough edges. That can make these tracks feel somewhat sterile, in addition to being overly familiar. But when everything clicks into place just right, as on opener Aurora/Dead Flowers, there’s no denying that Plant is a striking architect of anachronistic bliss.

Doug Wallen

 

JAZZ

Sondor

David Dower Trio

Independent

★★★★

This is the fourth release from the David Dower Trio and is the outgrowth of pianist Dower’s admitted obsession with Bulgaria, the Balkan country bordered by Romania and Serbia. It was recorded in the capital city Sofia following the trio’s fifth tour of the country, and features unique Bulgarian musical influences: dense vocal harmonies, lilting dance rhythms and local instrumentation. The repertoire consists of five compositions by Dower, plus a somewhat tongue-in-cheek version of the US synth-rock song We Built This City. Other than Dower, the trio includes Kim May (electric bass) and Matt Fisher (drums). The Britain-based Australian guitarist Elliot Frost also deserves commendation, as his beautiful improvisations give the album real distinction. Otherwise, there is an army of Bulgarian musicians in the studio, too numerous to list their names individually: a kaval player, three folklore singers, a lead vocalist, a percussionist, and a brass instrumentalist. Accordingly the album has a full, exceedingly lush sound, atop a seriously competent fusion rhythm section, which certainly captures the majesty inherent in this genre.

Eric Myers

 

ELECTRONIC

Nothing

Darkside   

Matador

★★★★

If you know, you know. Fans are still gushing about Darkside’s freewheeling Coachella performance, but for the just-arrived, the New York trio’s third album is a fine jump-off point. Since the release of 2013’s debut LP, Psychic, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington have blazed a trail for experimental, slow-burning electronica, melding menace with emotion to brilliant effect. 2021’s Spiral presented a slightly brighter post-Covid take, but having welcomed drummer Tlacael Esparza to the fold since, Nothing stands as a reset of sorts. Jaar’s love of techno and Harrington’s guitar chops again anchor proceedings, but Esparza’s drumming on tunes like the frenetic Graucha Marx adds further depth to this immersive grab-bag of restless guitar jams and raw rhythms. Opener Slau sets an ominous early tone, gliding between foreboding synths and cutting bass before stuttering drums kick-in, building to an outro of glitchy vocal samples. S.N.C. features swirling, funk-tinged guitar amid Jaar’s muffled vocal which, from nonchalant Spanish on American References to his baritone on Hell Suite Part 1, impresses throughout. The album’s title may nod to the trio’s approach to production – seeking to unshackle themselves from past output – but make no mistake; this is really something.

Tim McNamara

 

CLASSICAL

Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Australian Chamber Orchestra and Richard Tognetti

ABC Music

★★★

Theoretically, this should be a winner, but frankly it’s something of a disappointment. It celebrates the 50th anniversary of our crackerjack international ensemble, the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The 19 players are first-rank players, top names in this band. The coupling of familiar Tchaikovsky and less familiar Shostakovich makes a lot of sense. Duration is 57 minutes, still room for another piece. So what’s going on here? Where the ACO usually delivers sparkle, bloom and verve, the sound here seems muted and reticent. The two Tchaikovsky pieces were recorded in Sydney’s Carriageworks in late 2020, the Shostakovich in the Hordern Pavilion a few months later. Could there be technical issues with the venues and microphone placements in non-studio environments? Otherwise, the performances seem fine enough, but the subdued ending of the late Chamber Symphony, in the renowned arrangement of the eighth string quartet by Rudolf Barshai, is a downer. Timo-Veikko Valve’s solo cello in Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile is sheer joy. Would there was more of that on this strangely disappointing album.

Vincent Plush