Creating seasonal EPs that would coalesce to produce a Four Seasons compilation has been Big Scary’s inspiring artistic project over the past year.
Creating seasonal EPs that would coalesce to produce a Four Seasons compilation has been Big Scary’s inspiring artistic project over the past year. Few bands have incited more impassioned reverence than this Melbourne duo of Tom Iansek and Jo Syme; not only have they compelled with their exceptional live performances, but with each release they’ve revealed their formidable talent and potential.
Big Scary’s second seasonal instalment, Winter, diverted into greater solemnity and denser textures than their shimmering Autumn EP. Winter captured the sentiments of being forcibly removed from nature’s harshness (its consequential feelings of desolation/loneliness) as well as its coercion into profound reflection (clarity of consciousness/engagement with self).
In following the haunting intimacy of Winter, Spring’s opening title track is an affecting acoustic folk number rippling with gorgeous keys and Iansek’s increasingly comforting vocals. With the third instalment of the band’s Four Seasons project, Big Scary have cleverly utilised spring’s defining characteristics as metaphors for humanity’s own… There’s the sense of rebirth and reawakening, the narcissistic proclivities of the vain and the hedonistic, all captured in Iansek’s lyric of “I’ve never loved someone like I’ve loved myself”. After all, spring is fraught with harmful self-consciousness and a superficiality that belies its unadulterated true worth. It’s a testament to the duo that they’ve touched on the ominous side of spring rather than merely its charm and warmth-ridden elements.
Hamilton recalls some of the finest grunge-invoking moments from the duo’s At The Mercy Of The Elements EP with its invigorating built-up to a riotous chorus and the memorable vocal hook: “And I can’t believe you think money/will save yourself from all that’s coming your way”. The riff-heavy and keys-laden Hamilton touches on the contradictory elements of hospitality, while third track, Gem In The Granite, flourishes with serene melodies and a moving piano arrangement – providing the ideal bookend to a composition that searches for greater beauty beyond the veneer.
Spring by Big Scary is out now.
