In 2006, Tobias Cummings released his critically acclaimed debut album, Join the Dots which was nominated for the Australian Music Prize. Cummings’ highly anticipated follow up, A Trophy was produced by the legendary Tim Whitten (Go Betweens, Powderfinger, Augie March).

A Trophy is gutwrenchingly beautiful. Cummings sings with the weight of the world on his shoulders. But rather than pushing a burdenous collective of love and longing, the tales on this album distill relentlessness and fighting spirit. On another site, one reviewer carelessly threw the Chris Martin reference at this record. Yes, the man has a penchant for pianos and an expansive vocal bravado, but he serves up more narrative veracity than any of that lethargic X&Y bullshit.

Tracks like ‘Busy Bees’ and ‘Exegesis’ offer a window of jovial relief to the overall sombre tone of the record, but do seem nothing more than a distraction to serious business. These are well crafted, but that Joshua Tree conditioning on ‘Busy Bees’ seems to lack the speculative aura of ‘You’ve Always Had That Insight’ and ‘The Judge’.

‘Sweetest Poetry’ and ‘Goldmine’ are definite standouts. However, picking apart tracks doesn’t do A Trophy much justice. Join The Dots was no doubt a solid debut, but Cummings has definitely found his home on this album. Crafting a sense of yearning that stings like lemon juice to an open wound, A Trophy is a tour-de-force that shakes with unexpected conviction. A magnificent storyteller. One of the best releases this year, surely.

‘A Trophy’ will be released through Departed Sounds/Other Tongues on the Wednesday the 1st of September.

www.myspace.com/tobiascummings

www.tobiascummings.com

‘A TROPHY’ TOUR DATES:

MELBOURNE –  Saturday 18th September, The Worker’s Club with Ancient Free Gardeners, Brendan Welch

ADELAIDE – Sunday 26th September, Ed Castle with Chris Lloyd and London Road Poets

SYDNEY –  Sunday 3rd October, Raval with Jamie Hutchings (Blue Bottle Kiss)

MELBOURNE – Friday 29th October, Bella Union (Trades Hall) with The Tiger & Me

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Matt Walters ft. Washington – ‘Die For You’ (mp3)

Matt Walters has just put the final touches on his second EP ‘Talking in My Sleep’, which features the track above (with guest vox. from Megan Washington).

Hanging in the air like delicate morning frost, Walters voice envelopes the space between isolation and intimate contemplation. Each cursive exhale moves effortlessly and earnestly throughout this track, while Washington provides a cushiony harmony line. While this floats like a sombre echo out into the void, it still feels warm and inviting at the same time. It’s almost bittersweet, but a nice track nonetheless.

Walters has been working with producers Paul Mckercher (Augie March, Josh Pyke, Sarah Blasko) and Francois Tetaz (Lior, Gotye) on his debut LP, which will be available early 2011.

He’ll be playing three shows in Melb during August, see his myspace for details.

www.myspace.com/mattwaltersmusic

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New clip from Perth guns Young Revelry. (refer to Spillane’s words here and here)

Teeming with auspicious snarl and well measured grit, the much anticipated ‘You And I’ EP drops this Friday (Aug 13) through Redcat Sounds.

Woo!

www.myspace.com/youngrevelry

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After leeching singles ‘Gold Canary’ and ‘This Is What I Said’ onto the ears of the collective, winning a whole bunch of loyals after supporting Vampire Weekend, snagging a J Award nomination for Album of the Year for Bliss Release and returning from a successful run of UK dates, 2010’s been a pretty sweet run for Blue Mountain kids Cloud Control.

The saga continues to read like a triple j wet dream, with the band just sealing a freshly inked deal with Infectious Records, home to psych folk hipsters Local Natives and local expats from The Temper Trap.

This clip for ‘Theres Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight’ was made by Surrey Hills art duo Greedy Hen, who’ve previously done vids for Josh Pyke, Washington & The Middle East.

Cloud Control will be hitting the road in Sep/Oct for a full national tour with Seekae and Deep Sea Arcade.

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Circa ’94, my cardboard army costumes made out of the remains of a Fisher & Paykel diswasher box certainly weren’t as elaborate as the ones in this clip.

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