How Much Works

Leading up to How Much Works, the output of Australian musician Esther Edquist underwent quite a transformation. The hazy, downcast dream pop of her band Superstar was followed by an experimental album consisting of only voice and bass (2016s O.K. Permanent Wave, her first release as Sweet Whirl). Unpredictably to outsiders, her solo work shifted toward more structured, melody-centric songwriting with a classic 60s-70s influence for the 2019 EP Love Songs & Poetry. She uses that still-dreamy EP as a launching point for How Much Works, her first album for Chapter Music and official Sweet Whirl debut. Opening the record with a spacious arrangement of piano, keyboard, staccato bass, and crisp snare instead of the EPs reverberating guitar, Sweetness adds a commanding lead vocal line, organ tones, and vocal harmony for a mellow, jazzy pop that has much more in common with Joni Mitchell than with Superstar. That clarity presides over much of the album, though there are exceptions in Something I Do, a ruminative ballad that keeps articulate vocals and piano but invites in spacy synths, and How to Count, which turns to bass and minimal guitar to accompany Edquists doleful vocals (Love is the exact amount you withdrew upon leaving). Make That Up for Me is another guitar-based track to make an appearance before the sultry, torch song-styled closer, Your Love on Ice, ends How Much Works on a union of melodic bass and organ. Not a belter, the singers somewhat husky delivery sits well on these observant, resigned songs, which represent a promising start for a newfound musical direction. ~ Marcy Donelson