Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Vika & Linda, Bloodlines 2021.
On 17 September Vika & Linda Bull released their first album of original material in 19 years – the last was Love is Mighty Close in 2002.
The Wait is an apt title for an album that has taken so long to produce.
Linda explains “It took us three times to make this record, it kept getting delayed… and we’ve been waiting 19 years to make it… waiting for more songs…waiting for the right opportunity.”
That time has finally arrived and COVID-19 has played a part in it.
From the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 the Bull sisters have thrown their considerable talents into the recording studio.
In early 2020 they released Akilotoa, an anthology including tracks from their five studio albums Vika & Linda (1994),Princess Tabu (1996), Two Wings (1999), Love is Mighty Close (2002) and Between two Shores (2006) and also a reworking of Down By The Jetty and Never Let Me Go by the Black Sorrows.
The album debuted at number one, their first top position rating, and they followed this with Sunday (The Gospel According To ISO) an album of gospel songs that developed out of their popular Sunday live streamed sessions.
This album debuted at number two providing the duo with the two highest ranking albums of their careers.
And now they are set to release an album that, based on the quality of the four singles so far released, will cement their position at the top of the tree of Australian recording artists and hopefully will bring them to the notice of the wider international audience.
The songs on The Wait are fantastic and just a glimpse at the writing credits will explain why.
Don Walker, Glenn Richards, Chris Cheney, Bernard Fanning, Kasey Chambers & Brandon Dodd, Ben Salter, Paul Kelly, Neil Murray & Matt Walker, Mick Thomas & Jemma Rowlands as well as up-and-coming writer Eva Seymour.
It’s a testament to Vika & Linda’s immense talents that writers of this quality have offered their services to them.
From the moment I heard My Heart is in The Wrong Place and Raise Your Hand I felt something special was in the offing.
Those two tracks have been followed by the sublimeLike a Landslide and the brilliant rocker Lover Don’t Keep Me Waiting.
And now the long wait is almost over. The Wait has been released.
