Rolling Stone Australia - May 2016

Teddy Thompson

& Kelly Jones

Little WindowsCooking Vinyl

★★★½

Gram and Emmylou-inspired

duets from slick pair

Ontopoffouralbumsofme-

lodic, polished pop, one of

Teddy Thompson’s career high-

lights is the wonderfulUpfront

& Down Low(2007), a collec-

tion of country standards and

an obvious point of comparison

withLittle Windows,hiscol-

laboration with American pow-

er-pop purveyor, Kelly Jones.

With echoes of Buddy Holly,

Elvis Presley and the Everly

Brothers, while these melodies

and arrangements often seem

familiar, subtle idiosyncrasies

in the songwriting counteract

any derivativeness. It also helps

that Thompson possesses one

ofpop’srichesttenors,which

combined with the emotive

tones of Jones results in a tex-

ture all their own. B.S.

Mogwai

AtomicRock Action

★★★★

Scottish post-rock crew

soundtrack the atomic age

SocinematicisMogwai’smu-

sicthatitoftenseemslikea

soundtracktoafilmthat’s

yet to be shot. It made sense,

then,whenin2006theScots

did cross into the world of

soundtracks, scoringZidane: A

21st Century Portrait;Atomic

is a reworking of music they

wrote for 2015 documentary

Atomic:LivingInDreadand

Promise.Asyou’dexpectofa

film that band leader Stuart

Braithwaite says “captures both

the horror and beauty of the

atomic age”, the 10 tracks here

pulse alternately with dread

(“Bitterness Centrifuge”) and

wistful optimism (“Ether”), the

band’s trademark crescendos

scaled back in favour of some-

thing far subtler, the songs

structuredalittlemoreloosely,

butnolesspowerfully.ROD YATES

Cullen Omori
New MiserySub Pop/Inertia
★★★
SmithWesternsfrontmanturns
to panoramic pop

What were you doing at age
17?CullenOmoristartedthe
glam-damaged Chicago band
Smith Westerns, who broke up
afterthreealbums.Onhissolo
debut, Omori swaps his rock
impulses for soft-focus pop. In
fact,betweenthefloatyvocals,
druggy drums and twinkling
melodies,New Miseryfaces
infinite Tame Impala com-
parisons. Yet there remains a
timeless appeal to these tunes:
“Hey Girl” nails sunny, chim-
ing guitar-pop, “Cinnamon”
wheels into dreamy, dance-
able Crowded House territory,
and the earworm catchiness
of“NoBigDeal”trumpsits
unabashed Beatles influence.
Hemayedgeclosetotheoverly
familiar, but Omori’s talent for
woozy melodies and immersive
backdropsisundeniable. D.W.

Aurora

AllMyDemonsGreetingMe

asaFriend

Glassnote★★★½

Scandinavian pop diva likes

wolves, weirdness

If Enya was a faintly goth 21st-

century Norwegian teen with

pop aspirations, she’d sound

somethinglikeAuroraAk-

snes, whose handsome debut

is full of frozen tears, running

wolves, blood, lies and epic

heartache.Builtmainlyfrom

pianos, synth whorls and elec-

tro-frosted beats, the songs

are most striking as showcases

for her restless voice, all en-

dearingly smudged English

accent with a folk singer’s

way with a melody. It pushes

pop tropes toward something

weirder, cooler, more personal.

“My body feels young, but my

mind is very old,” she sings

on the deluxe edition’s Oasis

cover, “Half a World Away”.

Her delivery bears that out.

WILL HERMES

Eagle & the Wolf

Eagle&theWolfInd.

★★★★

Openhearted Americana from

smitten Australian duo

Hailing from the swampier,

darker side of Australian coun-

try music, Sarah Humphreys

andKrisMorrishavecon-

cocted an album that is ap-

propriately sultry and mysteri-

ous. Its 10 songs benefit from

a certain ‘live’ feel, blemishes

and all, and an imprecision

that is often essential in this

genre. Humphreys’ voice is

mellifluous throughout, and on

“Mama, Son & the Holy Ghost”

she channels an Aretha Frank-

lin-esquesoulthatbeliesher

alt-country heritage. Morris’s

dilapidated croon is an alluring

counterpoint, particularly on

“LostButNotAlone”,aslow-

burning ballad. Though hardly

pushing back any frontiers, the

pair’s sincerity and chemistry

makes their first record togeth-

er beguiling indeed. B.S.

Afterspendingadecadesinging
openhearted confessionals as the
frontmanofNewJerseypunksthe
Gaslight Anthem, gravel-voiced
BrianFallonisturningdownhis
ampforasolodebutfullofacousticballadsand
midtempo alt-country songs. Fallon references
heroes like James Brown and Van Morrison as
he transforms rough old memories “from a long,
long time ago” into communal punk-folk therapy.
Foraguywhosesongshavealwaystradedinthe
pains and pleasures of nostalgia, the Fallon of
Painkillersseems to have ar-
rivedatanewfound,forward-
lookingclarity.Asheputsit
onthewistfulclosingballad:
“Idon’tletremindersgetme
downlikebefore.”
FallonrecruitedstudioproslikeCatherine
PopperandButchWalkertoadddelicatehar-

mony vocals, spectral synths, and tasteful guitar

flourishes. Some songs, like “Red Lights” and

“Long Drives”, counter Gaslight’s maxed-out

swaggerwithstripped-downsensitivity,while

others, like “Rosemary” and “A Wonderful Life”,

ofer a quieter take on the Replacements-inspired

AmericanathatGaslightdoesbest.Painkillers

isn’t quite a rebirth, but with his band struggling

tostayvibrantinrecentyears,itfeelsalittlelike

a new morning. JONATHAN BERNSTEIN

Life After

Gaslight

Brian Fallon
PainkillersIsland★★★½

Gaslight Anthem frontman quiets
down and looks forward

KEY TRACKS:

“A Wonder-

ful Life”, “Long

Drives”

May, 2016 RollingStoneAus.com | Rolling Stone | 101