From the Mess and Noise Website:
Already regarded as one of Australia’s most gifted songwriters – although not by nearly as many people as he should be – Jamie Hutchings steps out from behind the clashing guitars of Bluebottle Kiss once again with After the Flood, the first offering from his upcoming second solo record, His Imaginary Choir.
This six-track EP is bookended by tracks recorded by Hutchings’ longtime associate Tony Dupe, who brings them all the warmth and clarity you’d expect from a man of his callibre. ‘After the Flood’ is an upbeat shuffle; lighter and brighter than anything on The Golden Coach, Hutchings’ solo debut. Its relaxed mood is boosted by rich, almost choral backing vocals and perhaps Hutchings’s most vibrant melody to date. The looseness of ‘After the Flood’ is carried over to ‘Some Way to Go’, where you can clearly hear someone – Dupe, perhaps – laughing in the background.
A trio of self-recorded tracks and a solo live rendering of Bluebottle Kiss favourite ‘Barbed Wire Star’ make up the EP’s middle. Despite their lack of fidelity, ‘A Place Called Lewis’ and ‘A Town Called Mute’ are closer in spirit to The Golden Coach (or BBK, for that matter), combining gently strummed acoustic and tremoloed electric guitars. As its title suggests, ‘Flood Postlude’ is a brief reprise of the title track.
If After the Flood is an indication of what we should expect from His Imaginary Choir, then we’re in for a very surprising album indeed.
by Adam D Mills