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PurplenePurplene Big Dipper/Spunk/Inertia A (not so) great interior designer once declared "It's not the space, it's how you use it." One of the things that stands out on this album is Purplene's ability to use, or more to the point, not use, their space. Rather, they have manipulated sound and silence into a beautiful ensemble of melodic architecture. Sure, this perfection of ambience may have been due to the masterful engineering of one Mr. Steve Albini, but without hearing the songs live, or 'pre-Albini', it's hard to tell. Certainly all the hallmarks for stan- alone success are there: Matt Blackman's soothing, surrendering vocals make "fester like scurvied gums" sound like a line from an eloquent love poem, while delicate guitar seemingly elopes with Matt Rossetti's tentative yet crisp and deliberate drumming. There is a sense of suspicion throughout the album with lines such as Love: Western's "Background checks on best friends" and Cahoots = 1's "They're onto us - those people outside." Blackman raises many unanswered and rhetorical questions to add to the mystery. So why is it that I trust his warnings to mistrust others? Swords Down is the high rotation 'sea shanty' single that initially drew me to Purplene and still stands as one of the more resolute songs on the album. Then again, it's hard not to be taken with all the tracks, especially the unrestrained Lyonhardt which fills the corners of the room that are untouched by the remaining songs. It's almost as if Purplene have started with a solid noise and then composed songs by removing sound, leaving only specific notes in perfect places. The epic Second Shift, although pop at heart, has a feeling of isolation and longing condensed into the line "A lonely cup in an empty diner." Purplene have occupied a niche aching to be filled on the Australian music scene, taking a 'less is more' approach to produce an aesthetically crafted album that is well deserving of any praise it receives. Well, I like it anyway.  |
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