STACK Template

96 / 101

22 AUGUST 2017
visit MUSIC REVIEWS
Coldplay
Kaleidoscope EP
If you were lucky enough to catch
Coldplay when they were recently
Down Under, and you’re hankering
for a new music fix – however
small that may be – you’ll want to
dive right into the Kaleidoscope
EP. Though not exactly an original
all-in effort, these five tracks are
Coldplay at their most Coldplay-
ish: calm, smooth, and reliable.
You’ll find a remix (which is actually
just a live recording) of their
Chainsmokers collab Something
Just Like This, which somehow
improves upon the original, as
well as the wonderful pick of the
lot, Miracles (Someone Special) –
which includes a sample of Marty
McFly. No, it’s not a full album,
nor is it anything remarkably
groundbreaking – but sometimes
it’s nice to go back to basics.
(Warner) Alesha Kolbe
Vera Blue
Perennial
What happens when it’s over? Vera Blue’s debut
album is like 12 steps, or songs, to recovery. A
break-up record, it’s an electro-pop journey from
anger to acceptance, and heartbreak to happiness.
Starting with a song called First Week and ending
with Mended, it’s like the listener is sneaking a
peek at Vera Blue’s diary. “I just wish I could find who I was before,” she
confides, “and I know it’s for the best, but that doesn’t mean my heart’s
not ripped out of my chest.” Like a modern day Joni Mitchell, Vera Blue is a
compelling confessional singer-songwriter. Perennial... the strength of this
album shows she’ll be back with more.
(Universal) Jeff Jenkins
The Ocean Party
Beauty Point
Since 2014’s Soft Focus, it’s been
impossible to pick The Ocean Party’s
strongest songwriter. Breaking out
of the fallow fields of Melbourne
jangle, they’ve been advancing a
form of guitar-pop that still bears
the marks of your Paul Kellys and
Go-Betweenses, but Beauty Point
makes the edges of post-punk and
NewWave more visible. The bubbling
energy of Crisis and Quiet Life churn
all panicked and anxious; the elastic
bass of Concrete View and Strike
anchor them as secret punk sneers.
Elsewhere, street level romantics still
linger: Memorial Flame Trees takes
the Main Street, Anytown malleability
of Cold Chisel’s classic and marries it
to war memorials. Originally known
for breezy Millennial yarns, The
Ocean Party’s latest picks up where
Robert Smith should’ve left off, and
makes it look all too easy.
(Spunk) Jake Cleland
Shane Nicholson
Love And Blood
Shane Nicholson has already
proven himself to be one of
Australia’s outstanding Americana
singer-songwriters. Both solo
and in collaboration with Kasey
Chambers, he’s collected himself
a swag of awards, from ARIAs
to Golden Guitars. For Love And
Blood, he removed himself from
his daily digs and took off to the
isolation of the Hawkesbury River
(NSW), to find inspiration for his
sixth solo album. Here along
with a cast of wonderful guests
– including legendary Nashville
Americana artist Buddy Miller, who
adds his voice and guitar prowess
– the always sincerely personal
Nicholson shares his current
matters of the heart with an
uplifting determination of love and
hope. (Lost Highway Records/
Universal) Denise Hylands
David Rawlings
Poor David's Almanack
Dave Rawlings is a guitar man, and
so much more. As Gillian Welch’s
singing and musical partner on
all of her albums, Rawlings
occasionally steps out to offer
up his own thang. On his third
release – this time dropping “The
Machine” moniker – you’ll find
many of his amazingly talented
friends again: Welch of course,
but also Willie Watson, Ketch
Secor (OCMS), Taylor and Griffin
Goldsmith (Dawes) and others. It's
just like an old time, back porch,
all-in sing-a-long, harking back to
days gone. This is acoustic and
electric American folk and country,
recorded live to analog tape at
Rawlings' Woodlands Studio in
Nashville – real American music
packed with technical excellence
and good times.
(Acony Records) Denise Hylands
Lana Del Rey
Lust For Life
With her fifth studio album
Lust For Life, Lana Del Ray is
back with much more of the
same – but by no means is
that a bad thing. A vulnerable,
self-aware journey, Lust For
Life is Lana’s antidote to the
pop-laden charts of the day, with
collabs from A$AP Rocky and
The Weeknd the only elements
which can really be compared to
other releases of the moment.
The 16-track cavalcade of Del
Rey’s noteworthy, heavenly
vocals features already beloved
singles Love, Lust For Life and
Coachella – Woodstock In My
Mind, but the album closer Get
Free is a clear stand out.
(Universal)
Alesha Kolbe
Everything Everything
A Fever Dream
I’m pleased to report that
Everything Everything’s ability to
successfully squish a sackload of
experiments into one canny pop
gem hasn’t dulled in the two years
since 2015’s critically acclaimed Get
To Heaven. That very Radiohead
thing of mixing lyrical platitudes
(“I want to be done by twenty to
four” from single Can’t Do ) with
cryptic or mangled aphorisms (“I
don’t want your cake, I never eat it
anyway” from stand-out Run The
Numbers) is very much present;
I’m not sure if Jonathan Higgs is
using his personal pronoun more
than he used to, but A Fever
Dream seems more candid than
its predecessors. Start with the
gorgeous Put Me Together, which
perfectly illustrates the mastery of
dynamism and ‘eclectic cohesion’
the English four-piece possess.
(Sony) Zoë Radas
st154_079_REVIEWS_MUSIC_03v2.indd 1 25/7/17 9:39 am