Oh Mercy
Great Barrier Grief
EMI
[Out March 4, 2011.]
#Australiana.
Sun, surf, sand, romance, fly-screens, fish and chips, bad ’80s architecture, mozzies, budgie smugglers, fruit sellers on the side of the highway… these are the things we’ve got in our blood and on our sitcoms but not necessarily in our popular music. Oh Mercy’s front man and swaggeringly prolific songwriter Alexander Gow, however, is out to change all that. From the stark, abrasive Ken Done number on the cover through the very sound of the album itself, Great Barrier Grief is all about embracing the bizarre and often incongruous elements that make up this country. With gorgeous, well-crafted songs that will appeal equally to inner-city trendoids and rural outback farmers, Oh Mercy have managed to pull of the very delicate coup of writing an Australian album that will resound with Australians because it is, inherently, Australian. It’s not pretending to be anyone, or anything, but here.
What Gow is particularly good at is capturing a mood in song. Whether that’s the hopeless, drought-stricken renunciation of religion in ‘Mercy Valley’ or the Lazy Sunday Night In Front Of A Bad Rom-Com On Channel 10 sweeteness of ‘Hold Out Your Hand’, the very unfashionable essence of simply living and getting on with it practically bleeds through his songs. Employing the considerable talent of producer Mitchell Froom – no stranger to this kind of aesthetic as evidenced in his work with Sheryl Crow and Crowded House – certainly didn’t hurt matters either. There’s nothing overcrowded here, the instruments all sit quietly in the pocket without trying to be showy which allows plenty of room for Gow’s particularly likeable voice. And unlike recent chart trailblazers Missy Higgins or Megan Washington, he doesn’t need to push the ocker element to prove his point.
Oh Mercy, who have recently spent time in the company of Paul Kelly and recorded a killer Crowded House cover last year clearly know which side their bread is buttered. Rather than trying to hook onto a popular sound or fit into a scene, they’re shooting higher with a sophomore record that aims only to one day join the canon of great Aussie songwriting. It’s that kind of feeling that makes cuts like ‘Keith St’ so attractive despite not being edgy or offensive and quite possibly something your Mum will like. And even when the subject matter is a bit more unsavoury, like ‘Confessions’ frankly explaining the breakdown of an intercontinental relationship, it’s couched in such a way that you can’t help but smile. Despite the harm, there’s no harm done and with a quick smile, all is forgiven. There’s hashtag for that which hasn’t been embraced enough lately, either.
It’s called #larrikinism.
If we ever stop putting disposable sex objects at the top of our charts, it is not unrealistic to posit that Oh Mercy could and should be a serious success. The strength of writing here is phenomenal; killer opener ‘Stay Please Stay’ has enough hooks in it for three other songs and the sophisticated chord progressions move smoothly like the waves on a coastal beach. All of this may seem like over-cooked hyperbole, but spend some time with this record and chances are you’ll feel the same.
Rating: 9/10.
