Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Gav Brown, Gav Brown Music 2020.
Western Australian troubadour Gav Brown is back with a new album titled Shoalhaven, named after the beautiful south coast district of NSW.
I’ve reviewed a number of Gav’s albums over the years and I’ve always found them to be an uplifting experience.
It seems that Gav must have spent some time in the Shoalhaven area for it’s an obvious influence in a number of the album tracks.
He’s actually been a bit of a tease with many of the song titles; Hey Jude for instance has nothing to do with the Beatles song of the same name.
It’s a love song to a friend and lover and likewise Yellow Submarine bears no other resemblance to Ringo’s best known effort than the title.
Shoalhaven is generally a folksier album than his last release Road Less Travelled (2019).
Acoustic instruments dominate, particularly the banjo, although it is delightfully underplayed adding colour to the sound rather than a strident dominance.
The sole variation to this formula being London Town, no not the McCartney song of the same title.
It’s a song about finding your musical voice in London complete with electric guitars and brass backing.
Gav is a talented songwriter, I’m sure he could write a song about any topic.
Merry-go-round for example has us at a local travelling carnival with its sounds and colours.
It’s a joyous song about the pleasures we experience rather than the many downs we endure on our merry-go-round journey through life.
This positive outlook is something that imbues the whole album.
Tracks like Step Into The Light, Special Times, Come Sail With Me and Dance The Sky are unremittingly sunny.
This may be seen as an unrealistically optimistic outlook on life but is that such a bad thing in such troubled times?
Shoalhaven is an album full of optimism. It’s gentle and thoroughly enjoyable.
