Gotye has made a clean sweep of the Australia’s ARIA Charts this week, hitting at Number 1 in both the Single and Album charts. What a legend.
The Melbournian multi-instrumentalist, whose single ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ has already spent a comfy 3 weeks in the top spot has now backed it up with his freshly released LP Making Mirrors, which knocked Adele from the lofty perch of like, a bajillion weeks in prime position. It’s a good month for Gotye, the nom de plume of Wally De Backer, whose previous two albums Like Drawing Blood and Boardface have also re-entered the charts at #19 and #57 respectively. It’s also a good week for Australia, who stopped buying LMFAO singles and realised that the best talent is right at our doorstep.
Coincidentally, both Adele and Gotye have found success in sombre, break-up songs that eschew the high-octane dance beats which seem to have become standard fare for every other act reaching No. 1 (with the notable exception of Angus & Julia Stone, but on the plus side, they won’t be up for at least 3 more hours.) Both artists also come from independent stables, with Adele represented by XL Records and Gotye firmly in the saddle for Eleven, run by music maven, John Watson. Gotye recently sold out two shows at Sydney’s Opera House, with his vocal foil, Kimbra, set to release her debut record, Vows, this week as well. Is there a change in the air? Is the new golden age of Australian music upon us? Will ARIA Australia start sending out press releases where they actually get the name of the artist’s single right?
We just don’t know. But what we do know is someone needs to buy Wally a whole lotta beers. Congratulations!
