STACK #136 Feb 2016

MUSIC REVIEWS

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SIA This Is Acting How do you handle rejection? Well, if you’re Sia, you gather up all your unwanted tracks and put them on one wonderful pop album. This Is Acting features songs Sia wrote with other artists who then didn’t want to release them. For example, Rihanna rejected Cheap Thrills and Bird Set Free , and Beyoncé didn’t want Footprints . And you can’t help but wonder how Alive and Bird Set Free would have sounded on Adele’s 25 . An album of rejects? Doesn’t sound overly appealing. But Sia shows that these songs are more super than superfluous. “I’m playing on my own,” she sings, defiantly. “I survived.” (Inertia) Jeff Jenkins

Us The Band But Where Do They Go?

That wonderful echoey scream during garage-groove, a la Ty Segall or Thee Oh Sees, always puts a discerning ear at peace. This two-piece from Sydney seem to feel exactly the same firing insolent vocals towards their mics while fingers bleed and knees get torn out of bagged-out jeans. It's a FIDLAR attitude combined with an almost Stooges feeling of danger, delivering an accurate death-blow to the hipster f*cks ruining our ephemeral joy. Not since The Bronx’s debut has there been as much honest sweat coming off a needle, or indeed laser. Do it, do it twice. (Rice Is Nice) Chris Murray

RÜFÜS Bloom Welcome to summer. Or any season, really. RÜFÜS are back, and they’re better than ever. Atlas , the group’s debut album, was released back in 2K13, and gave us Sundream , Take Me and Tonight – all perfect dance hits to get you up and moving, independent of each other yet inherently emanating the same fun-loving factor. Three years

later and the boys are back with Bloom . Starting out as a true homage to the band’s past, Bloom blossoms into what could potentially be a new sound for the group. Like An Animal delivers us straight into the roots of the Sydney trio, and if you’re not bopping by You Were Right we mustn’t be listening to the same tracks. Do I need to mention it won an ARIA for Best Dance Release? With Bloom , RÜFÜS demonstrate their intrinsic ability to produce music that is solely theirs, with no other bands quite managing that mix of Peking Duk and Flight Facilities in the same way. Closing out the 11-track album with Innerbloom , the Aussie boys will send you on your way knowing that, whether you’re ready to jump into the fog or simply mosey on by, RÜFÜS are by your side. (Sony) Alesha Kolbe

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MUSIC

Mavis Staples Livin' On A High Note

Wet Don't You There's a strength and a

Michael Waugh What We Might Be

Wild Nothing Life Of Pause

vulnerability to the music of Wet. The Brooklyn trio gently but confidently navigate the sounds and structures of ethereal electronic pop and atmospheric R&B, and have been widely identified as one of the more intriguing acts to emerge from the scene in recent times. Don't You is the hypnotic debut album, and delivers on the promise made by their earlier single and EP releases. Serene and unsettling, the eleven songs float emotively on a cloud of hip hop beats, sparse synth melodies and orchestral textures. Fragile tales of heartbreak, longing, and love. (Columbia/Sony) SimonWinkler

In her seventy-seventh year, living legend Mavis Staples is enjoying one of the most prolific periods of an extraordinary career that now spans six decades. On the back of two recent releases and an award-winning documentary film titled Mavis , the iconic singer is about to release a new album of songs written specifically for her by a diverse collection of contemporary writers that include Nick Cave, Ben Harper, Son Little, Benjamin Booker, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Neko Case. Among these joyful, uplifting tracks is MLK Song , a tribute to Staples' close friend Martin Luther King. (Warner) Billy Pinnell

There's no mystery as to why ARIA Award winning musician/ songwriter/producer Shane Nicholson wanted to work with Michael Waugh: both are sensitive, insightful songwriters and storytellers, and together they've created this outstanding debut release. Waugh's songs are about real people and his experiences growing up in East Gippsland in Victoria. Heyfield Girl is a dedication to his mum. My Dad's Shoes , Dairy Farmer's Son , Brother and Maffra Under 10s speak for themselves. Paul is a tragic tale of bullying, and This Time Will Pass is a love song to his son. Michael just performed at Tamworth last month. (MGM) Billy Pinnell

Wild Nothing is the dream pop project of US singer and

songwriter Jack Tatum, and Life Of Pause is his third full-length album, an intentional journey into more soul-influenced territory. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Wild Nothing infuses all his songs with rich arrangements. You can hear the careful layering and the considered restraint throughout the record, with moments of quiet reflection alongside more energised jams guided by propulsive bass lines, searing guitars and soaring synths. (CapturedTracks/Remote Control) SimonWinkler

FEBRUARY 2016

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