STACK #183 Jan 2020

MUSIC REVIEWS

visit stack.com.au

Kate Ceberano, Steve Kilbey and Sean Sennett The Dangerous Age It’s high time Kate Ceberano was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. What a voice, and what a career! She follows her ARIA Award-winning covers collection, Tryst with Paul Grabowsky, with another collaboration, this time teaming up with The Church’s Steve Kilbey and Brisbane musician and journalist Sean Sennett to deliver an adult contemporary record that’s both adventurous and inviting. Ceberano takes the lead, and her vocal is pop perfection, while Kilbey’s voice has undeniable presence. They complement each other brilliantly, bringing these hypnotic tales to life. Check out On Love and All Tied Up . An unlikely combination, but a triumph. (Universal) Jeff Jenkins David Byrne American Utopia On Broadway Like Bruce Springsteen's smash Broadway show of 2017, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has brought his 2018 album American Utopia to life in a critically acclaimed Broadway production, that features a diverse ensemble of 11 musical artists from around the globe. Described as a celebration of music, dance and song, the show is first and foremost a concert consisting of 20 songs from various Talking Heads albums and Byrne's solo releases. This two-CD soundtrack is virtually a Best Of David Byrne and Talking Heads, full of vibrant, updated versions of classics such as Once In a Lifetime , Burning Down The House , Road To Nowhere , and Slippery People . (Warner) Billy Pinnell

Marcus King El Dorado A protege of legendary guitarist/ composer/band leader Warren Haynes, 23-year-old Marcus King (who has already released three albums with The Marcus King Band) goes it alone for the first time. He does it with the help of Grammy Award-winner Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who produced and co-wrote all the songs on this young musician's impressive debut. Having made his mark as a blues/rock guitar player, King reveals an innate ability to vocally inhabit the songs on this album; the reflective Young Man's Dream and Beautiful Stranger showcase his gifts as a straight-from-the-heart soul singer. There's still plenty of room on the album for King to fire off his trademark guitar solos, but the strength of this release is how effortlessly he fuses rock, soul, country, and R&B on his most impressive outing to date. (Fantasy) Billy Pinnell Drive-By Truckers The Unravelling US Southern country rockers Drive- By Truckers release their twelfth studio album this month. It's their first in three-and-a-half years, which is the longest space between any of their albums; co-founders and writers, Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood, both hit a writer's block while trying to wrap their heads around the “wreckage and aftermath” that has ensued in the US since the release of their last album, American Band (which they described as “the warning shot hinting at a coming storm"). D-BT have an incredible knack for portraying the raw and real truth of America, which comes to the fore on The Unravelling . Recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, this is an especially personal album, but as they say, “politics is personal". (Ato Records) Denise Hylands

Cold Chisel Blood Moon “Baby, can’t go on pretending there’ll ever be a happy ending,” Jimmy Barnes declares in Boundary Street , one of the many highlights of Cold Chisel’s ninth studio album, and their first since 2015. But if one thing is certain, it's that Chisel’s legacy is assured. They are rightly revered as one of our greatest rock bands. With nothing to prove, it’s surprising they can

be bothered toiling in the studio making a new album. Even more admirably, they have crafted a record that crackles with the vitality of a band just starting out. Jimmy Barnes takes centre stage, writing lyrics for four of the 10 tracks, delivering the lead vocals on seven songs and sharing vocal duties with Ian Moss on two others. Barnesy’s words might lack the subtlety and intrigue of Don Walker’s work, but they take no prisoners. He sings of a “land of hate and land of whoring”, while Killing Time is as ferocious as anything he’s done since You Got Nothing I Want . “We made our choice,” he spits. “We have no voice. It’s killing time.” There’s an edge to this record, but then it’s all wrapped up with Mossy’s gorgeous soul-pop gem You Are So Beautiful. Forty-six years after Chisel started, the fire still burns and they can still surprise. (Cold Chisel/Universal) Jeff Jenkins

Nightwish Decades: Live In Buenos Aires Nightwish changed the genre when they began in 1996. Their decision to incorporate female operatic vocals into their music proved to be a bold and successful move. It inspired a legion of bands, but despite the success of Within Temptation, Epica, or Sirenia, Nightwish remain leaders in the field. Decades: Live In Buenos Aires is another live album, but it’s slightly different as it features a number of deep cuts from their back catalogue performed especially for the Decades tour. Decades Live… acts as a welcome stopgap before Nightwish release their new album sometime next year. (Nuclear Blast/Caroline) Simon Lukic

Mötley Crüe Dr. Feelgood

Mötley Crüe were always good for a headline. Their farewell tour ended in 2015, and with that came the decision to never perform as a band again: they signed a cessation of touring contract and left it at that. The success of their biopic The Dirt garnered much interest and before we knew it, said contract was recently torn up, and the band is back in action. Hot on the heels of the announcement is the 30th Anniversary edition of the fan favourite Dr. Feelgood , which comprises all the hits you know plus three demos: Dr. Feelgood, Kickstart My Heart and Without You . While I always considered it a patchy album and nowhere near as strong as Too Fast For Love or Shout At The Devil, there’s no denying the impact of the title track and Kickstart My Heart . (Eleven Seven Music) Simon Lukic

54

JANUARY 2020

jbhifi.com.au