STACK Jun #128

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096 JUNE 2015 JB Hi-Fi
Eilen Jewell
Sundown Over Ghost Town
It’s been four years since
Eilen Jewell’s last studio album,
and her fifth, Sundown Over
Ghost Town, more than makes
up for the wait. Having moved
back to her hometown Boise
Idaho and become a first-time
mum, she offers us her most
autobiographical album yet.
Jewell’s words paint images of her
hometown, memories and new
life, while her mesmerising and
effortlessly sweet, smoky vocals
make you believe she’s singing
just for you. With her amazingly
talented long time touring band
providing their familiar blend of
rockabilly, blues, surf, Tex-Mex
and country, this is an outstanding
album.
(Planet/MGM) Denise Hylands
Mark Seymour and the Undertow
Mayday
What is home? That’s the question Mark Seymour
ponders on his ninth solo album and third with
The Undertow. Yep, this is a concept album, but there
are no easy answers or three-word slogans. This is the
story of modern Australia, where it’s “one rule
for the filthy rich, another one for the weak", the
nation is filled with "celebrities and sycophants", desperate people seek
asylum, shock jocks are “screamin’”, and musicians are searching for
meaning. This is as good as any album Seymour has made. The Undertow
might lack numbers (there are only three of them: guitarist and producer
Cameron McKenzie, bass player John Favaro and drummer Peter Maslen),
but they’re capable of delivering both power and poignancy. One of the many
special things about this album is that it showcases both sides of Seymour
– it’s strident and sensitive, and both qualities sit comfortably alongside each
other. Mayday is deeply moving. “I’m too old for cryin’,” Seymour sings in Irish
Breakfast, “but I’m too young to let memories fade.” Elsewhere, he declares,
“I got revolution in my head.” The dream is alive. (Liberation/Universal)
Slaves
Are You Satisfied?
It takes some spectacular timing,
stacks of chutzpah, a real vision,
and some je ne sais quoi to really
sneak up on listeners these days,
so it’s genuinely exciting to be
not just gripped, but positively
throttled, by the new album from
British two-piece Slaves. Are
You Satisfied? thumbs its nose
at convention both musically and
lyrically. Sounding like Madness
meets The Street crossed with
The Jam and The Wombats,
the duo create one hell of an
obnoxious racket – a little bit
punk, a little bit rap – but nowhere
near as naff as that combination
has previously sounded.
(EMI/Universal)
Emily Kelly
Active Child
Mercy
Four years after his debut
album as Active Child, Pat
Grossi still commands tingling
harp and quavering vocals.
He’s expanded the scope here
thanks to producer Van Rivers,
lending bigger R’n’B beats to
his swooping, crystalline
melodies. It’s all absolutely
gorgeous, but it can actually be
too pristine for its own good.
The New Age-y synths and self-
harmonising on Never Far Away
cross over into cheesiness,
while These Arms and the
Disney-sounding Too Late
overdo it with sentimentality.
Even for an album of love
ballads, it’s a little sappy.
(Spunk/Universal)
DougWallen
Tremonti
Cauterize
With Cauterize, guitarist Mark
Tremonti hopes to capitalise
on the success of his debut All
I Was. That album focused on
his heavier ideas, and riffs that
didn’t fit the framework of either
Creed or Alter Bridge (his two
other, better known entities).
Cauterize is reminiscent of
Metallica circa
The Black Album, with a little
…And Justice For All thrown in
for good measure. Cauterize,
though, is no thrash album and
little here will alienate his wider
fan base. The centrepiece of the
release is Tremonti’s guitar work
and Cauterize shows just how
much he has grown as a player
over the years.
(MGM)
Simon Lukic
Torres
Sprinter
For her second album, Brooklyn-
based Mackenzie Scott, AKA
Torres, shreds her past and soul
on nine gripping songs; some
are throbbing with love but latent
menace ( Son You Are No Island),
some compelling for quiet intimacy
(the seven minute-plus closer The
Exchange about a child given up
for adoption) and others furious
synth'n'guitar-rock, close to
poetically revealing Patti Smith and
howling Nirvana. Lyrically these
songs peel back layers in imagery
which is religious, sexual and
literary but she also tells stories
(two running parallel on A Proper
Polish Welcome ) and possesses
a rare honesty. One of the year's
best.
(Inertia)
Graham Reid
Judith Owen
Ebb and Flow
For her tenth album, U.S.-based
singer/songwriter/pianist Judith
Owen turned for inspiration to
Joni Mitchell, Carole King and
James Taylor. Motivated by the
music of these great artists, she
set about writing songs that
would reflect the feelings of loss,
love, despair and joy she was
experiencing after the death of her
parents. Backed by drummer Russ
Kunkel, bassist Leland Sklar and
guitarist Waddy Wachtel – who
had often recorded with her main
inspirers – Owen has created
these beautiful, bittersweet
songs. Also included is a unique
makeover of Mungo Jerry's In the
Summertime.
(Planet/MGM)
Billy Pinnell
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