Opening with intensifying guitar shimmer, Fenn Wilson’s latest single Dancing – with its celebratory, swinging waltz rhythm – evokes Jeff Buckley.
It’s the contrast between instrumental buoyancy and soul-wounded vocal delivery, for us: “Baby, if you took me dancing/ Maybe, I’d learn how to step again…”
Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
Tim Rogers rates Fenn as “one of [his] favourite singers in the world”, and justifiably so: check out the vocal prowess on display at the tail end of Ravens! Although Fenn’s delicious timbre requires exactly zero embellishment, instrumentation throughout his second album serves only to cradle and enhance. Despite Fool’s Gold’s exuberant orchestration – propulsive drumming, textured brass – his vocals shine brightest.
“Maybe one day I’ll be a man/ But I’ve only just grown to fit my father’s coat” – Ghazal, a stripped-back guitar-and-voice number in 3/4 time, reminds us Fenn’s late dad is Chris Wilson (aka the “gentleman of Australian blues”).
Honey Dates Death ponders, “What is love if not to rescue us?” and Laying With The Bones (“…of someone you love”) chronicles the different ways immediate family members process grief: “My mama cries, I press flowers/ And brother hasn’t slept in a week.” Heart-soreness weeps from every pore, presenting Fenn as an old soul who feels deeply, before closing track Turn The Leaf – which concludes with the repeated phrase, “Be a shame to never love again” – suggests he’s now ready to face the world with an open heart.
Honey Dates Death/Ghazal is released independently and is out today, April 13. Check it out by heading here.
