Little Cloud (Standard Edition)

Although all the songs on this double album will fit on a single disc, they are split into two halves: Little Cloud and The Apple's Eye. One of the reasons this is done is because bandleader and vocalist/pianist Tim Freedman believes that songs on the end of albums get ignored. (Cutting the album into two bite-sized pieces may help listeners take in all the music on offer, and then again it may not.) Featuring the same core lineup as 2002's Torch the Moon, Little Cloud is a mostly enjoyable record with a handful of excellent tracks. The first of these to appear is, coincidentally the first single, "I Was Alive," which is a bouncing rock tune bursting with energy. Any song boasting lyrics like "She don't know which one to buy/Australian Shooter or Australian Bride" can't be taken too seriously or ignored as being too silly. The second disc (The Apple's Eye) closes with a live performance of the previously unreleased "The Curse Stops Here." Recorded with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra this melancholy, but ultimately uplifting song details the aftermath of the deaths of founding Whitlams bandmembers Stevie Plunder and Andy Lewis. A haunting brass section and calm strings lift this tragic song of loss to an optimistic finale, giving the album a classy ending, with applause no less. The highlights are very strong, and possibly overshadow the rest of the album, setting the bar a little too high. Calling the rest of the album filler is overly harsh as songs like "Beauty in Me," "Fancy Lover," and "Beautiful as You" have great hooks and pop appeal. Whilst there is nothing here that is not listenable or terrible, the material seems a little staid and pedestrian in places. Maybe if the concept of a double album was abandoned in favor of a stronger single-disc release, this might have faired better. ~ Clayton Bolger|