Life is rarely straightforward as weve all been reminded lately and its even less so on the road. Pre-lockdown, Melbourne band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever singer-songwriters and guitarists Tom Russo, Joe White and Fran Keaney and bassist Joe Russo and drummer Marcel Tussie spent 18 months on a gruelling world tour, and it seems that endless staring out of plane windows left them questioning their identities.<\/p>\n
This is surprising when you consider the quintets first two EPs, 2016s Talk Tight and 2017s The French Press, which seemed so in-tune with who the band are. These records offered danceable, guitar-driven indie, their laid-back harmonies and louche lyrics putting a golden filter on the world.<\/p>\n
The beauty lay in the simplicity of Rolling Blackouts sound. There were no fanciful tricks just masterful songwriting. 2018 debut album Hope Downs furthered this approach, sounding like a group of friends enjoying lifes simple pleasures. But second album Sideways To New Italy is a bit more complicated.<\/p>\n
This 10-track collection sees the band returning home and rediscovering themselves. The albums title references New Italy, a village near Tussies childhood home in Bellingen, New South Wales. The idyllic destination has become something of a symbol of refuge for these young men; it was home to Venetian immigrants in the 1800s and the landscape is dotted with replica Roman statues. Russo has explained: These are the expressions of people trying to find home somewhere alien, trying to create utopia in a turbulent and imperfect world.<\/p>\n
Musically, the euphoria remains. Opener The Second Of The First nestles back into the bands reclined, jangly groove and theres a real sense of togetherness as Russo, White and Keaney share vocal duties. Despite the sunny sounds, though, Whites partner makes an appearance to deliver a spoken-word monologue steeped in confusion and displacement: Nothing is the same, the street hasnt changed \/ There is a light feeling in the back of my head and my mind is somersaulting.<\/p>\n
The jangly Cars In Space, which already feels like a familiar favourite, finds Rolling Blackouts reflecting on the sickly excitement of life on the road: You trace your hands around the wheel \/ Your face it shines. The Only One, with its blasts of harmonica, offers even more intimacy, dissecting the strange, bittersweet relief of returning home from an adventure: Back into the new world \/ That looks exactly the same \/ When I walk through the gate \/ Cold sweat on my face. Not Tonight features a wistful refrain that would make Elliott Smith proud, replete with aching lyrics: Im burning all my candles down.<\/p>\n
Sideways To New Italy might sound like sun-splashed indie for good times, but theres a great deal of angst buried within. Yet this is clearly also the sound of a band excited to be in the studio together; warmth and friendship seeps through every note. Rolling Blackouts have obviously been reflecting heavily on home recently who hasnt? and here it seems that theyve found it in one another.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Originally posted here:<\/p>\n
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Sideways To New Italy review: sunny indie hints at melancholia within - NME<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Life is rarely straightforward as weve all been reminded lately and its even less so on the road. Continue reading