Victorian Steve Lane and his band The Autocrats are heading north.
It’s to celebrate the release of his latest album The Great Imposter (which recently went #8 on the UK Vinyl charts/#5 on the Scottish album and #2 on UK indie chart breaker charts!), out now via the not-for-profit record label Last Night From Glasgow.
Steve Lane and The Autocrats
- Wed 18 Jan – Smith’s Alternative, Canberra ACT
- Thu 19 Jan – LazyBones, Marrickville, NSW
- Fri 20 Jan – Servo Food Truck Bar, Port Kembla NSW
- Sat 21 Jan – Stag & Hunter, Newcastle NSW
- Sun 22 Jan – The Junkyard, Maitland NSW
- Fri 27 Jan – The Lomond Hotel, Brunswick VIC
- Sun 5 Feb – The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine VIC
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Steve is also bringing fellow Victorian Americana stalwarts Paper Jane along for the ride, which means you get your fill of quality Australian Americana, country, jangle pop and hook-laden rock wrapped up in quality, finely honed (and award winning) song-smithing by two headline acts for the price of one.
Paper Jane’s soundscape is from an era when songs weren’t rolled in tinsel. The tunes are catchy and raw, delivered with intense harmonies and just the right amount of swagger. Are Paper Jane country, gospel, celtic or blues? Yes, they are all of that and more.
Steve Lane And The Autocrats present their distinctive Australian blend of Americana, Jangle Pop, Roots and Hook-Laden rock, reminiscent of bands such as Wilco, Elvis Costello’s Attractions and the Go-Betweens.
On his fourth album, The Great Imposter, we hear Steve Lane at the peak of his songwriting powers, grappling with the world as he encounters it in ten warm, honest, heartfelt pop songs – richly imbued with the sound of indie rock, jangle pop, Americana and melodic rock.
Infectious opener Certainty could be an anthem for this era. As coastlines erode and pandemics re-shape our ideas of the future – even the near future – Lane celebrates things that endure (‘every breathing leaf… hands deep in soil… the stories of the old ones’) and brings it all home when he concludes, ‘in these uncertain times, you are my certainty.’ This beautiful refrain is driven by a rock piano line that would make Ben Folds envious.
In Ocean That Is Red, Lane – who has many long-standing friendships forged in Top End indigenous communities – marvels at ‘the law and patterns that sustain everything’. A sparse laidback drum track and an adventurous bassline lead the listener into a desert that is not barren, but luminescent and brimming with stories, spirit and relationships.
Just as Certainty accepts that we have no choice but to live with ambiguity (‘knowing it’s not knowing what comes next’), ‘Ocean That Is Red’ also acknowledges paradox (‘past is present is past’). Lane grabs the baton from the likes of Shane Howard, Peter Garrett and Neil Murray and says it afresh in 2021: Australia still has so much to learn from its Aboriginal brothers and sisters.
Beautiful electric guitarwork combines with a whirring organ and a rock-solid rhythm section on Don’t Be Afraid Of Reaching Out – a song in praise of swallowing pride and being vulnerable, because that’s when healing happens. As we have come to know, with Steve Lane intimacy and vulnerability win out over brashness and bravado every time.
A jangling guitar turns angry on So Sorry Now – a lament about the futility of war and humans’ apparent inability to learn from the past. Anger turns to grace in Don’t Forget To Breathe, which swings gently, urges us not to be too hard on ourselves because ‘all that is… will be’. If Wilco were Australian, they might sound like this. Built around some beautiful piano playing by Neneh Lane U’Ren, Cally Bartlett’s evocative cello and the wistful and understated drumming of David Williams (Augie March), the song rolls along with a dreamy, hypnotic feel. It’s part folk rock, part melancholic pop-rock with a countrified, pastoral feel, culminating in a beguiling and emotively compelling sound.
Neneh Lane-U’Ren’s strong, crystal clear voice is a beautiful feature of many of these songs and the musical palette is rich across the album with strings and horns making appearances, but never overstaying their welcome.
Expertly mixed by David Carr at Rangemaster Studios and mastered by Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering, The Great Imposter is a treat that captures Steve Lane celebrating human love and connection in the midst of a world that is so often confusing and unpredictable.
Steve’s latest album is released on the Scottish independent record label Last Night From Glasgow, who operate as a patron funded not-for-profit label. They are an ethics-first business who believe in gender equality and fair pay for all and they’ve had phenomenal success with their business model since launching in 2016.
The Great Imposter is available on vinyl from Last Night From Glasgow, local stores from Nov 25th, streaming services and AMRAP.
