HOW
CAN I FORGET THIS HEART OF MINE - The Darling Downs (self released)
The intentions may have been modest in recording a set of songs that Ron
Peno (ex-Died Pretty) and Kim Salmon (ex-Scientists, Surrealists, Beasts of
Bourbon et al) have been performing under the moniker the Darling Downs, but
the outcome is special.
The billing has them billed as a "country duo" but there's more
of a folk feel to Salmon's sparse acoustic guitarwork and Peno's expansive
singing. It's more Hank Williams than Dixie Chicks. The back story is that
Peno made a move to Melbourne a couple of years ago for personal reasons,
well after the end of Died Pretty. Kim Salmon was always looking for a new
musical outlet and the pair's long-promised intentions to do something together
came off in early 2004 when they started playing out as a duo. The songs were
given time to age, and recordings put down in the home studio of Dave Graney
and Claire Moore.
It's tempting to think of these songs as demos for a would-be Died Pretty
record, simply because Ron Peno's distinctive vocals are at their core. Of
course, that would downplay the contribution of Kim Salmon to the songwriting.
Fact is, it's not a long stretch from Kim's last solo album ("eArnest").
Nevertheless, if you were paying paid attention you'd know that strong, swelling
melodies were the backbone of Died Pretty's songs. The Peno-Salmon credit
compares favourably to Ronnie's partnership with Brett Myers.
That country-folk was a part of the Peno canon was fairly apparent in the
Died Pretty album track "Wig Out" (later to surface in acoustic
form on the B side of the "Winterland" single). If you want to gauge
how far Peno's come as a singer, play that one back-to-back with "...Heart
of Mine". There was a real charm in those early stylisations but, damn,
they were hard to understand.
You can hear what he's on about in the Darling Downs, but I'm buggered if
I'm going to literally interpret any of the songs. On the face of it, "In
That Jar" could reference bottled emotions, but when you realise that
Died Pretty's sublime and soaring "Sweetheart" was all about the
pickled human skins decorating Jeffrey Dahmer's house (!), R.S. Peno could
just as easily be singing about a sperm donation or the end-of-term exhibits
at a taxidermy college as drinking. Cheers, anyway.
Melody is greatly underrated in discussions of music that lies under the commercial
radar. Sometimes it's as if no-one wants to mention the word. Well, melody
is here in spadeloads. The quartet of songs that opens this album ("I'll
Always Be There", "In That Jar", "Why Did She Leave?",
"All Fall Down") might be the best run of consecutive songs either
Kim or Ron has laid claim to. The overall impact is quietly stunning.
Genuine Contender for Best Album of 2005.–
The Barman
3/4