We're reminded of Don Walker's storytelling genius from track one's opening couplet: "Jules is in the doghouse, lost her boyfriend, lost her keys/ Now she's left her jacket on the train, she's gonna freeze" – hats off, sir!
Let’s All Get Together (“…have a party anyway”) features cheeky, scraping güiro (which plays a recurring role throughout Love Songs). Jubilant brass parps bring the party until a girlish chuckle closes out this opener.
Breakfast In Paris, which follows, is classy and filled with gentlemanly longing.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
“Filled me like a memory/ Of a pain no longer there” – okay, we’re gonna need a new Moleskine to fill with Walker’s delectable turns of phrase. See also: “There’s not a day that I don’t hear the bell I carry in my heart for you.”
Boom-chicka guitars underscore Luck, which details a torch carried for the one who got away. Garrett Costigan’s pedal steel shines throughout.
(“I’ve seen them all and I know…”) It Will Always Be You – this delightful sentiment is backed by elegant piano.
Blooming frangipani, unscrewing your number plates, keeping your “Darwin story straight”, a violinist playing nude on her balcony, chirping crickets, wayward youths driving Nissans, “the bonehead hours of a bonfire keg” – don’t be fooled by the tropical instrumentation, Darwin’s closer is a 14-minute ear-turner with sinister underbelly.
Although listeners feel in safe hands, meticulously placed melodic detours make Love Songs an enthralling listen. Yet another masterpiece for the Walker discography.
Label: MGM
Release: 7 August
For more information, head here.
