Album Of The Week ~ Snowy Band -The Apartment. LP
Melbourne’s Liam “Snowy” Halliwell has been quietly making some of the best music to come out of Australia over the past 5 or so years with a lengthy slew of DIY releases that often feel totally luminous, like they’re surrounded but a dim glow of a dusty VHS tape filled with old family movies, the music he makes feels lived in and worn in the best way possible. With previous records like the one-two punch of 2020’s ‘Audio Commentary’ and 2021’s ‘Alternate Endings’ scratching a kind of melancholy and nostalgic itch deep within that you might’ve not known you had until it's suddenly there. Slowly but surely he’s been refining his tender and hushed approach to indie rock and jangle pop, all building up to this beautiful and totally singular album “The Apartment” which is a rare gem and his strongest release to date.
Backed by his regular cast of Emma Russack (guitar and vocals), Nat Pavlovic (bass & vocals) & Dylan Young(drums) they delicately coo their way across the record with the kind of gentle cadence of an old friend. Many of it’s truly brilliant moments reveal themselves in the in-between, with Liam proving himself as a total master of restraint and release, using space and dynamics like few others, like on opener “shortchanged”, just as quickly as you find yourself getting swept up in its cascading pianos and understated yet dynamic guitar work you’re hit with a jarring dissonant note, a subtle slap across the face to wake you up from it’s daydream. It’s their willingness to experiment and lace these moments of beauty with soft chaos that gives the record its sharp edge.
“The Apartment” is a total headphones album if I've ever heard one, every crash of the drums is bookended by a splash of melodically rich colour that really feels like you need that intimacy to get the most out of it. Snowy has made an album by all accounts that feels effortlessly timeless, an unmissable record, one that feels like time stands still while it's on and a strong late push for AOTY.
For fans of Sufjan Stevens, Wilco & American Analogue Set
