Take The Reigns

Description

History of pop music is full of girl-boy duos. One of today's most essential is this one that broaden and deepen the two Melbourne-based artists' respective oeuvres while pinpointing the strengths of each artist: Lachlan Denton's bulletproof hooks; Emma Russack's laconic, acerbic lyrics; and their shared penchant for creating spare, sunburnt Australian rock. Emma Russack plus the frontman of indie outfit The Ocean Party, Lachlan Denton, continue the band's penchant for catchy, melody-driven indie-pop tracks that make your heart melt. "Emma Russack's masterfully plainspoken ballads put her in the same league as Bill Callahan and Lucinda Williams" - Rolling Stone. This is Emma Russack and Lachlan Denton third and best album. File it next to The Go-Betweens. When Emma Russack and Lachlan Denton write songs together something inexplicable happens. 'I don't know how to explain it,' says Lachlan. 'The way we make music and the way we're comfortable to express ourselves in front of each other is very special.' Better known as a solo musician and a member of Melbourne indie mainstay The Ocean Party respectively, Emma Russack and Lachlan Denton have reunited for their third collaborative album in two years. The two Australians combine forces to make a sweetly melodic burst of fragrant indie-pop. Russack and Denton both grapple arms open with freedom and responsibility, finding beauty in simplicity, their own perceived shortcomings and the simultaneously fraught and exhilarating idea of giving in to human connection, love and relationships. Those familiar with Russack's solo releases and Denton's work with The Ocean Party well know that their ability to convey introspection and observation is steeped in veracity and humility which more often than not comes in vignette style with a pop palate. Russack and Denton will keep on trying, continuing to explore, observe and question, getting ever closer to being content and safe in the knowledge they'll neither make sense of all they see or find answers to all they seek.