Kate Ceberano, Steve Kilbey and Sean Sennett join forces on debut

The Dangerous Age is not what you might expect from such a diverse trio.

Singer-songwriters Kate Ceberano, Steve Kilbey and Sean Sennett.

ALTERNATIVE POP

The Dangerous Age

Kate Ceberano, Steve Kilbey & Sean Sennett

Universal

★★★½

The Dangerous Age.

First came Seeker Lover Keeper, composed of Sally Seltmann, Sarah Blasko and Holly Throsby. Then came (Mia) Dyson, (Liz) Stringer and (Jen) Cloher, an arguably even stronger aggregation of singers and songwriters. The difference with Australia’s third “power trio” to arrive with a new release in the space of six months is that the vocal spotlight is firmly trained on Kate Ceberano, with the Church’s Steve Kilbey and journalist-musician Sean Sennett her creative foils. But The Dangerous Age is not what you might expect from such a diverse triumvirate. For a start, Ceberano is singing well out of her comfort zone, forsaking her past pop-soul and jazz mannerisms for vintage pop, albeit with avant-garde undertones. The three singles released so far — the ice-cool Monument City Lights, 1973, recalling David Bowie’s Berlin period; All Tied Up, an Australian suburban bondage anthem; and the sublimely melodic My Restless Heart — encapsulate the contrasts endemic to The Dangerous Age. What began as a writing partnership between Ceberano and Sennett grew a third leg when the latter met Kilbey at a writers festival. Ceberano didn’t even know the Church frontman had become involved in the project until Sennett presented her with a demo of All Tied Up, with “Grant McLennan-style” lyrics by Kilbey. From there it evolved into an interstate collaboration, Ceberano holed up in a Melbourne studio with producer Rod Bustos, and Sennett and Kilbey emailing their respective contributions from Brisbane and Sydney. This remote chemistry coalesces on So Long Ago, where Ceberano dips and soars over Bustos’s George Martin-esque orchestration while Sennett and Kilbey’s sombre backing vocals only heighten the song’s air of nostalgic longing. Kilbey’s distinctive drone and opaque lyrics feature across the record, with Sennett’s presence felt most keenly on the spacey, Eastern-flavoured Glacial Speed and the enigmatic closer, Whatever Happened to Steven Valentine?

Phil Stafford

-

Mind Hive.

POST-PUNK

Mind Hive

Wire

Pinkflag

★★★

All bands should hope to open their 17th studio album with a mission statement as focused as Wire’s Be Like Them. Arriving more than 40 years after the arty British group’s debut, that track admirably reconvenes the members’ calculated serration and monotone mantras. That said, Mind Hive succumbs to some unevenness from there: iffy lyrics and an exaggerated air of menace hinder Oklahoma, while the purposeful plodding of Hung grows tiresome across eight minutes. Softer moments fare better, from the acoustic guitar strum and ambient glow of Unrepentant to the mellow drift of closing ballad Humming. Even Wire’s most palatable turns couch self-aware lyrics that can edge into scathing, and the band’s arrangements yield similar contrasts: lead single Cactused mines unexpected melodic sweetness alongside its anxious pulse. Such details remind us that, with Wire, there’s always more to unpack.

Doug Wallen

-

Bossa Got the Blues.

BOSSA NOVA

Bossa Got the Blues

Bossacucanova

Six Degrees Records

★★★½

Rio’s Bossacucanova helped make bossa nova — the 1960s samba-derived groove that established Brazil and their home city on the international music map — hip again in the 21st century. Two decades on from a groundbreaking debut release, the three DJ amigos who hatched the idea of blending bossa and electronica are reunited with their original producer and guitarist/composer on record. Octogenarian Roberto Menescal, a pioneer of bossa and father of one of the founding members, gives the band’s all-instrumental sixth studio album organic balance. His light syncopated guitar lines work symbiotically with the muted tones produced by arranger Paulinho Trompete’s trombone, trumpet and flugelhorn and simpatico synth beds and beats engineered by the core trio. Layers of interweaving timbres offer a dreamlike quality that brings to mind bossa’s early days.

Tony Hillier

-

'Bury the Moon.

FOLK/POP

Bury The Moon

Asgeir

Inertia Music

★★★

A lullaby for the soul, Asgeir Trausti’s voice wavers between fragile falsetto and silken croon. The thrum of guitar, piano and brass carries each of the songs along on a roadtrip, with nary a bump felt by the listener. Redolent of the echoey landscapes Sigur Ros are best known for, 27 year-old Trausti makes music that harks to his homeland of Iceland in its epic landscapes, where space rules and beauty reigns. His line of poetic folk-pop isn’t a world away from the likes of Bon Iver, nor electro maestro James Blake. Melancholy but victorious, Breathe is elegant and romantic, while Turn Gold To Sand is a sweet, R&B slow dance that flirts with funky electro beats and jazzy bass. Closing track Bury The Moon sails in on a sea of scattered percussion and a hypnotic medley of piano, horns and bass. Taken as a whole, the album is an atmospheric, quietly dramatic ode to the mountains, oceans and earth.

Cat Woods

-

Here Now Hear.

JAZZ

Here Now Hear

Monash Art Ensemble

FMR Records

★★★★

Monash Art Ensemble exists in a university setting, and many students from the music school perform in the ensemble aggregations, but this is not music by fledgling students. Eight works over 2½ hours are from arguably Australia’s most established composers in the area of improvised music, five of whom are Sandy Evans, Paul Grabowsky, Marc Hannaford, Rob Burke and Paul Williamson. The classical composer Andrew Ford provides his first work for improvising ensemble. The music here is full of new sounds, suggesting that Monash is a hotbed of exploratory music. On the other hand there is much ensemble writing and improvisations here which consolidate past achievements found in previous works. So, overall, the music on this fascinating double-album successfully combines innovation with tradition.

Eric Myers