ROOTS: LUCKY THE SUN
reviewed by Polly Coufos
Most of the 12 songs on Sara Tindley's second album 'Lucky the Sun' are set in a desperate place, where love and lust are coming to those who think they may have already seen their last good chance of such things go south. Tindley displays a Lucinda Williams-like intensity and maturity in her writing, and the delicious folk, soul, blues and country stylings support her argument that a late-blooming girl has a place in the world. There are sketchy details in the lyrics but enough space in the varied arrangements and Tindley's dreamy delivery for the listener to fill in the blanks. Hot for You sizzles under the heat of James Gillard's soulful guitar licks, One and Only amuses in showing a relationship is measured by the offer to listen to your version of Khe Sanh, while Paulie's Last Ride tells of a friend who has come to an untimely end; his farewell is both tender and unsentimental. Produced by Bill Chambers, this is honest-to-goodness music for grown ups.
FROM: THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN 2/6/07
TIME OFF
SARA TINDLEY
Lucky The Sun (Vitamin)
Byron Bay-based singer-songwriter Sara
Tindley has captured the attention of musicians and broadcasters across
the nation with her latest effort Lucky The Sun, the follow up to 2003's
5 Days.
Tindley has an interesting lyrical sense,
often relying on the use of imagery to propel the narrative in her songs.
One would imagine this style of writing to be quite difficult and terribly
awkward if not done well, but Tindley manages to pull it off seemingly
effortlessly.
Lyrically, she shows shades of Paul Kelly
and Tim Rogers while musically sticking to a Lucinda Williams-esque country
pop sound that's about as sweet as anything that's come out of the country
for quite some time. There's something uniquely Australian about Lucky
The Sun; it's honest, funny, sad and has an overall laid-back, almost
careless feel.
Bill Chambers once again proves himself
to be one of the most important figures in Australian country music as
his tasteful production makes the songs sparkle and his delicate guitar
work adds another element to a number of the tracks.
This is a compulsory listening for all
supporters of Australian roots music, the only problem being its punishing
ability to put other more lauded artists to shame.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
SARA TINDLEY
Lucky The Sun (Vitamin)
Saturday 24 February 2007
The best thing that can happen to Byron-based Sara Tindley with her second
album is that the local country scene ignores her. She is too good a songwriter
and too diverse in her influences and styles for that moribund environment
where they celebrate "authentic" mediocrity and drag everything down to
that level.
Tindley's mix is a roots melange with
country as its dominant, but not overwhelming flavour. So alongside the
slide guitar of producer Bill Chambers and the classic harmonies there's
country soul in Rambling Ways and Dirt Music which bring to mind Shelby
Lynne, while Rain Falls deserves some of the attention we've already paid
to Tift Merritt. A strong '70s singer/songwriter mood infiltrates True
Believer and Heart It Was A Desert suggests someone has been listening
to Patty Griffin.
Even when the territory is more straight
line the excellent players - James Gillard, Will Grahame, Jeff McCormack
and Mitch Farmer join Chambers - bring a lovely swing to Anchor Me. This
is a good album so let's hope the city picks her up before Tamworth ruins
things.
Bernard Zuel
THE COURIER MAIL
SARA TINDLEY
Lucky The Sun (Vitamin)
Friday February 16, 2007
Sara Tindley Above The Pack
THERE is something wrong in Australian
country music, and no amount of record sales will convince me otherwise.
There is too much that is bland, there is too much that is cliched and
there are too many records that go over the same old ground.
Of course, that criticism applies to commercial music of all kinds, and
notably the Nashville country production line.
But just when you are hoping for something to come along that presents
fresh angles to the country tradition in the way that Gillian Welch, Lucinda
Williams and Kasey Chambers manage to do, along comes Sara Tindley.
And she's Australian, based in Byron
Bay.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise
to discover that her second album, Lucky The Sun (Vitamin), is produced
by Bill Chambers, since many of the good things in Australian music are
in some way connected with that clan, either as producers or performers.
But Tindley is also her own woman, with
her own things to say, and Chambers has the good taste to recognise that
and hook her up with a magic band including himself and James Gillard
on guitars.
The playing sparkles and Tindley's clear-as-a-bell
voice floats above, but it's the quality of her writing, the insights
of her lyrics and her sense of humour ("I think you and I mean something/I'll
even listen to your version of Khe Sanh") which set her above the pack.
For proof, take a listen to Heart it
was a Desert, a story of physical and emotional abuse, with its poetic
opening refrain ("A man with an umbrella meets a woman with barbed wire/They
circle around each other/Never naming the desire.")
Paulie's Last Ride takes perhaps the
oldest story in the country book ("going home to my home town"),
and makes the tale seem brand new. Like all good songwriters, Tindley
knows not to give all the answers. What happened to Paulie? It's not explained,
but you know that whatever it was, it wasn't a happy end.
Perhaps best of all is True Believer,
a yearning piano ballad that has more in common with Carole King and Jimmy
Webb than country.
Others might have been tempted to turn
this into a big production number, with strings, pedal steel and the kitchen
sink. But with a song and voice as good as this, no adornment is required.
Fans of Gillian, Lucinda and Kasey, check
this out.
Noel Mengel
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