The Winding Way
The Tesky Brothers
Ivy League Records 2023
Once again this is an album supplied by Neil from Human Services.
The Tesky Brothers are a blues rock band from Melbourne and they are fantastic.
The band is composed of brothers Josh (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Sam (lead guitar) and they originally started out as a four-piece with Brendon Love on drums and Liam Gough on bass.
Brendon and Liam left the band before the recording of The Winding Way and the band has reverted to a duo.
The Winding Way is the band’s third studio album and in a way it’s a bit of a departure from their earlier releases, partially brought about by the line-up changes but also by a conscious change in direction.
The album was recorded in Sydney with producer Eric j Dubowsky (St Vincent, Weezer) who the boys felt might bring a different perspective to their music.
The decision has paid dividends because the album contains some wonderful tracks and a broader palette of sounds than their earlier work.
It’s also reached number one on the Australian Albums Chart.
It’s an easy-paced and gentle album that comes across as timeless.
Josh Tesky has a wonderful blues voice that occasionally reminds me of Otis Redding, particularly on the single Oceans Of Emotions.
There’s a soulfulness to this track that makes it feel as if it’s come straight out of the Otis Redding playbook.
The album has a wonderfully full sound with keyboards and particularly the use of horns as highlights but the boys also include a song stripped of all embellishments.
Carry Me Home sees Josh only accompanied by softly strummed acoustic guitar and harmonica.
The Winding Way is the first full album that I’ve heard from the Tesky brothers and I am very impressed.
Up until this point I’ve only heard singles and isolated tracks but there’s much to be gained from listening to an entire album of their songs.
