Does Melody
Pool keep it cool? Is Keith really Urban? Do Luca produce the top Brasi? R U O
Kaytranada? How are the Views from the 6, Drake?
MELODY POOL
DEEP DARK SAVAGE HEART
(LIBERATION)
HONESTY. It’s virtually
non-existent in today’s corporate world of music, where there’s often up to 10
people credited with writing big hits and pop stars get their personalities
lobotomised through ruthless media training.
Remember when singer
songwriters actually had something to say and didn’t fear losing followers on
social media? Meet Melbourne via Kurri Kurri musician Melody Pool. Her filter
is busted, if it was ever functioning, and it’s positively glorious.
Pool’s 2013 debut The Hurting
Scene was a near forensic post mortem on a dismembered heart. Seriously, it
made Adele’s 21 look like the Wiggles.
The follow up turns its focus
closer to home. There’s still some residual man damage here, but Pool is so
brutally honest about her depression it’s confronting in the way only the best
artists are bold enough to be.
Black Dog is the bitter,
barely-beating aorta of Deep Dark Savage Heart. Pool sings it directly to the
depression that paralyses her - “nobody sees what I do to me, nobody sees when
I’m crazed.” It’s incredible poetry that happens to be accompanied by a
beautiful, bruised melody.
Pool, who wrote every word and note you hear here, has fleshed out her musical
vision since her debut, the same way she now tours with a band, not as the lone
ranger of pain.
Old Enough is a
sinister-sounding document on ritualistic sex, Richard one of the many
beneficiaries of on-point strings here that elevate the drama and swagger.
If there was any justice
remarkable single Love, She Loves Me would already be as beloved as Augie
March’s One Crowded Hour. It’s got that same drunken waltz feel, except Pool
has penned a (literally) potty mouthed ode to love itself. It also comes with a
zero-to-1000 melody that showcases how Pool’s voice can wine you and wound you
with a single intake of breath.
As for Mariachi Wind - you
know how some artists say a song is like reading their diary? Well, most
artists wouldn’t have the balls to rip this page out of their diary and share
it.
It’s not all dark, even if her
night vision is extraordinary. Romantic Things is what happens when you’re
raised on a very healthy diet of Stevie Nicks and is a very welcome forced
smile. Plus, tune.
Better Days is the (nearly)
happy ending this album needed, and perfectly captures that sweet spot Pool occupies
somewhere between Laura Marling and Paul Kelly.
Pool slips between the radio
cracks (too alternative for commercial, too commercial for alternative, even
with all that swearing), which means you’ll likely need to discover her for
yourself. You can do that now or later, at your own pace, because this album
demonstrates she’s got everything necessary to be in this for the long haul.
Because somehow Melody Pool
makes sharing her pain a pleasurable experience./ CAMERON ADAMS
No comments:
Post a Comment