Listen To Water

Scaling down from his bands grandiose vision, Australian musician Luke Steele offers up a surprisingly poignant solo debut. Best known as one half of the enigmatic electro-pop duo Empire of the Sun, Steele has swapped his trademark Emperors crown for a much humbler, black-brimmed hat, though the music he produces is eccentric enough to transcend standard indie folk tropes. Self-recorded in a cabin in rural Northern California, Listen to the Water finds the singer/songwriter exploring themes of inner life, domesticity, family, and society amid a palette of acoustic guitars, glowing synths, and shimmering sonic adornments. When done well, the homemade solo album assembles an artists personality, quirks, and affections into a unique bouquet that could not otherwise be produced in a more conventional studio environment. This sounds like one of those records. Fans of Steeles previous bands -- mid-2000s indie pop darlings the Sleepy Jackson and the aforementioned Empire of the Sun -- should find plenty to love in these more subdued, but still idiosyncratic songs which, despite their acoustic roots, feel only partly earthbound. Standouts like "Common Man" and "Get Out Now" straddle the line of liminality with ethereal arrangements that strive for Roxy Musics Avalon-era grandeur while relating messages about fallibility and human nature. Weeping pedal steel guitar and digital drums mark youths unrelenting fade into adulthood on the eerie "Gladiator," while the anxious "Running, Running" builds ever so gently into a crescendo of its disparate sonic elements. Whats unique about Listen to the Water is how well it distills Steeles ambitious character into the smaller theater of a one-man show. It may be a more subdued and personal collection, but his innate sense of drama still plays to the back row. ~ Timothy Monger