Now five albums into his career, Josh Pyke has cemented his place as one of Australia’s premier songwriters. His latest album, But For All These Shrinking Hearts, finds him in the middle ground between consolidating and experimenting with his lyrically illustrative and classically melodic style. Opener Book of Revelations is a subtle, yet significant departure for Pyke. Led in by droning bass, atmospheric bells and a steadily warbled organ loop, the song stretches out and demonstrates Pyke’s interest in exploring new textures.
Similarly, There’s A Line is probably the first of Pyke’s songs to eschew an acoustic guitar as its driving force. Instead, an arpeggiating keyboard accompanies him, while the instrumental bridge unfurls rich washes of colour.
Pyke isn’t trying to reinvent himself completely, but analysing the finer details reveals a carefully considered and quietly refreshing production palette. Like the rudimentary perpetual motion machine depicted on the front cover, the album is filled with tiny experiments.
Perhaps the biggest contribution to Pyke’s willingness to incorporate diverse instrumentation is his recent stint of shows alongside the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Throughout, songs are enhanced by tasteful arrangements of strings and brass, which add a new dimension that ultimately lifts many of these tracks to another level.
Arguably, the further Pyke moves away from the mainstream, the higher quality his work becomes. Ukulele-touting single Hollering Hearts and the hook-laden Be Your Boy fall flat compared to the gorgeous ballad When Your Colours Go and the Beatles-esque Doing What You’re Told, complete with an extended Hey Jude-style coda. Lyrically, much of the album deals with Pyke’s relationship with creativity and his longstanding pursuit of it.What this album proves is that as long as he continues to follow his muse, there will be many more enjoyable records to come.
BY JAMES DI FABRIZIO
