Barnaby Weir has built such a clever code for himself versus his large bands Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties, that he had a certainty to dump a dub, a fill-in and a moniker for his latest solo venture.
This is a second time Weir has expelled an eccentric record – a initial was a new age synth-driven manuscript underneath a name Flash Harry in 2003.
But he has motionless to reconnect with his folky, infrequently twee and always retro roots with this new project.
It’s a nostalgic, easy-listening highway outing by Weir’s past few years, presented as a hassle-free nation stone record. Think listening to scratchy cassettes on idle highway trips, behind when State Highway 27 was a traffic-free zone.
While Weir might demeanour like a tortured essence on a cover, it’s not so brutally autobiographical.
It’s some-more a sound of an older, wiser man settling down on his veranda, gazing out opposite a dry, windswept land with his guitar. Wistful. Satisfied.
Opening with a album’s upbeat initial singular Tarot Card Rock – that is unashamedly derivative of Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 strike Dancing in a Dark – Weir moves by his slightly, darker, bluesier, side before dabbling in some hobo attracts (accordions and violins) and finale in a grainy, loyal stone ‘n’ drum I’m Coming Home.
It’s zero new, though it’s new to Weir: rather than song to neck drink to, this is substantially best matched with a robust red wine.
Rating: 4/5
Verdict: Seed leaves pod to fly solo
-TimeOut
By Jacqueline Smith
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