Jack Carty & Gus Gardiner, Hospital Hill - album review
Two celebrated Aussies unite their talents on this record to bring acoustic guitar and string instruments together in intimate unison.
Jack Carty has made waves Down Under with his pleasant singing/songwriting demeanour that sounds at times like the affable José Gonzalez with his soft vocals.
Gus Gardiner on the other hand was a founding member of rockers Papa vs Pretty and has since made his mark as a travelling/session/touring musician, working often with long-time friend Carty on much of his previous work.
This time they take the co-writing credits. Gardiner's cello and bass adding feeling to the guitar and the duo also employing the services of a string quartet made of members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
It's a summer breeze of a record as a result. Lazy Sunday mornings personified. An iced fresh juice drink and good book on the garden chair kind of day.
Low In The Highlands captures this perfectly. The slowed, almost lazy strings carrying Carty's voice in what is one of his more powerful vocal performances. Relaxing and actually pretty touching, this soft and comforting song will bring calm and warmth to many.
The opener Facing South is charming too. Sprightlier in sound and feel, the more pronounced strumming from Carty feels more personal and determined. When the strings open up it builds to a heartbroken finale that eases out on long, held notes tinged with pain and frustration.
And much of this record is written with a yearning for home and the simple life, Carty has said. This comes to the fore in People Don't Care. While perhaps one of the less flowing numbers on the record the tone of the vocals - "People don't care about songs anymore" - will resonate with struggling record shop owners up and down the country. We can only hope this isn't strictly true or we may have to find a new job soon.
Antipodes again takes the pace right back down with that swirling string backing sounding like an ocean swell carrying a row boat around aimlessly.
If you love your music quiet and reflective then take a listen to this. The overall atmosphere captured live with each track laid down in one take will call out to you for sure.
If you want things noisier...maybe look elsewhere.
Rating: 6/10
Jack Carty is currently taking on a co-headline tour with Maz O'Connor. It stops off at Birmingham's Kitchen Garden Café on Thursday, June 7, before arriving in Shrewsbury's Henry Tudor House on Tuesday, June 12.
