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Wer von den Go-Betweens spricht, hat in erster Linie Robert Forster und Grant McLennan im Kopf, aber es gibt noch mehr: Adele & Glenn, in der Inkarnation der Band zwischen 1996 und 2006 unverzichtbarer Bestandteil als Rhythmus-Sektion und Harmony/Duet-Vokalisten und bis heute die feste Band in Robert Forster’s Solokarriere, sei es auf der Bühne, oder im Studio. Dass sie es auch selber können, beweisen die beiden ex-Brisbanites auf ihrem Debut aufs Eindrucksvollste. Zehn herrlich-luftige, sommerlich-leichte Indie-Pop-Hymnen beinhaltet “Carrington Street”, Indie-Pop der zeitlosen Art, mit typisch australischer/neuseeländischer Note, grandiose Melodien, die so unverkrampft und locker daher kommen, wie man sie von zeitgenössischen Europäern oder Amerikanern nicht zu hören bekommt.
Zwölf Monate haben die beiden in ihrem kleinen Studio Studio in Marrickville, einem Stadtteil Sydney’s geschrieben, gefrickelt, nach Sounds und Melodien gesucht und auch gefunden. Mit einer überwältigenden Sammlung an obskuren akustischen und elektrischen Instrumenten, Röhrenverstärkern und der Kreativität einer seit 20 Jahren auf ihre Erlösung wartenden songschreiberischen Muse feilten Adele & Glenn während klirrend-kalter Wintertage und schwülheißer Sommernächte geduldig an ihren glasklaren Melodien und Texten, die das australische Stadtleben reflektieren. Eingebettet wurden Lyrics und Musik mal in sehr üppige Arrangements, dann wieder recht sparsam instrumentiert. Das Ergebnis dieser Arbeit ist ein schlafender Gigant namens Carrington Street. Mehr als zwei Jahrzehnte spielten Adele & Glenn in den Bands verschiedenster australischer Musikgrößen, von Dave Graney über die Custards bis zu den Go-Betweens und Robert Forster. Hört man sich nun ihr Debut als eigenständige Band an, so fragt man sich, warum Adele & Glenn diesen Schritt nicht schon viel früher gewagt haben. Aus dem Stand heraus gelingt ihnen mit “Carrington Street” ein funkelnder Sommerpop-Edelstein, von zwei verwandten Seelen in zwölf Monaten akribischer Arbeit feingeschliffen.
Adele & Glenn, ex-Brisbanites and former Go-Betweens members, are true pop stars. They play original pop music effortlessly and are a joy to watch. They have spent the last 12 months locked away in a small studio in deepest Marrickville. With carefully collected instruments old and new, and a specially modified microphone plugged into a box with valves in it, they have pieced together a new Australian album of depth and beauty. Throughout the windy winter days and dark nights on the outskirts of inner-western Sydney, Australia in 2011, Adele & Glenn patiently knitted pure-as-glass melodies to keenly observed lyrics from a modern Australian city life. Add to that, the sometimes rich and royal, other times factory-empty instrumentation and harmonies, and we are left with a sleeping giant of an album, called Carrington Street.
Adele & Glenn united to perform their own material after a history of playing with some of Australia’s most well loved and iconic musicians. They first met in a practice room in Brisbane to accompany Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens during his enigmatic solo career. And in each other, they found a good friend, and an inspiring stage and studio accomplice. Later Adele joined The Dave Graney Show. Glenn was a member of Australian idiosyncratic popsters Custard. And European music fans will mostly remember them for being the backbone of the reformed Go-Betweens from 2000 til 2006.
Today, Carrington Street shines like a full moon in a city park. It is Adele & Glenn’s debut album, and it sets a new path in their career.
When you see the names Adele & Glenn you almost expect them to be cordially inviting you somewhere. And it could just be that these two are welcoming you into “their house” on Carrington Street. Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson – once the rhythm section of The Go-Betweens while the latter was also the drummer for Custard – have graduated from being in two of Australia’s most-loved bands to making their own sweet music together. Their debut album, Carrington Street is full of an easygoing, homespun charm and plays out like chicken soup for the inner west soul.
The ten tracks were recorded at Thompson’s own Horses Of Australia Studio in Marrickville. It’s an idea the pair had had for years and one that finally came together after Adele moved to Sydney. Without the constraints of management, a label or any specific time deadline, the duo had the freedom to pore over every note and nuance. This means that this labour of love saw the pair become the sole guardians during the writing, recording and mixing processes, and it’s fair to say that this little baby is gonna make its parents very proud.
The first single, “I Dreamt I Was A Sparrow” has some smooth basslines and is filled with shadows and whimsy. It also sounds like a Crowded House number as Pickvance imagines herself as a bird following her old man around. In “Tomorrow Today” however, the tone changes for the first of many occasions on this LP. This one is full of skipping chords, sunshine and rainbows, meaning it sounds like the perfect compliment to the Thompson-penned, Custard classic “Music Is Crap”.
The buoyant pop continues with “Grey Suits”. Although more ballad-like and tender, in reality it is about labouring over the old grindstone. Then suddenly the topic turns from work to family and specifically to “Auntie Nelly”. The latter is a folk tale about an eccentric aunt, a weed-smoking woman who was born before her time.
In “Rescue” the pair change clothes and wear their best cowboy hats. It could also be renamed “50 Ways to Save Your Lover” because it boasts some of the country-fuelled heartbreak typically synonymous with The Audreys’ work. If that sounds heavy then rest assured it’s not, because this is actually some light and fluffy music. It’s a feel that extends into “Remembering Names” were some riffs that sound like they’ve been lifted from a fifties record are used to describe the moment where you trawl through the alphabet trying to remember an acquaintance’s name.
This well-crafted set of nostalgic tunes is completed by “City Of Sound,” a rocking ditty where we hurdle down the highway at a punk-like speed. Despite a harder edge, it also made me think of Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary”. And that’s before the listener leaves this punchy place for one that’s favoured by the songwriter of the latter track. On “Happiness” you could be sitting with John Fogerty as looks out his back door. If you do so, then you’ll discover that Thompson and Pickvance are doing a sweet boy-girl duet with some stark harmonica and a feel that is not unlike a number by John and June Carter Cash.
Carrington Street is a warm and crisp collection of songs and one for fans of Paul Kelly and Oh Mercy. There are pop, folk, rock and country moments and despite this, the feel is very cohesive. It’s a testament to the songwriting chops of these two very talented and creative minds.
Adele & Glenn make life on Carrington Street sound and seem so effortless that it could’ve been renamed “Easy Street”. Their experience in the biz has helped them make something that is very rich and also documents contemporary, Australian life with pure grace and charm. Ultimately, this is an easy, homespun record that has Aussie classic stitched into its every fibre i.e. into all of those carefully considered beats and flourishes. So really, the whole lot curls and comforts just like the wool straight off a sheep’s back…
Review score: 8.4 out of 10.
(Natalie Salvo, June 30, 2012, www.theaureview.com)
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