"When desire loses its direction - without any person or object to fixate on - it has a strange tendency to direct us towards the past."
These words that can be read in the introductory note of Emma Russack's latest album "About The Girl" genuinely remind us of a famous song that is sung like this: "When the routine is difficult and emotions are low and resentment rises, but emotions they don’t grow and we are changing our paths, taking different attitudes.”
Not that Emma Russack, who almost two decades ago made a brilliant version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" makes any attempt to sound like Joy Division, quite the opposite. Emma Russack in “About The Girl” sounds like someone who replaced the resentment that often accompanies the end of relationships and romantic breakups with self-reflection, a situation that once again brings to mind, now no longer Joy Division, but that famous Socratic phrase cited by Plato in which it is stated that “the unexamined life is not worth living by a human being”.
“About The Girl” reflects precisely this dive into self-reflection, into the investigation of a meaningful life through past events and individual circumstances without allowing itself to be confused with the mere nostalgia that is present in the album.
This is probably one of the main reasons for the highly seductive collection of songs that Emma Russack has composed for her sixth album. “About The Girl” was built and based on simpler and more acoustic musical structures, after all perhaps the most appropriate approach when looking to look at the past to uncomplicate it. It is also interesting to note that the introduction of some electronic and rhythmic elements in certain songs helps to reinforce the atmosphere.
“About The Girl” is once again an eloquent demonstration that Emma Russack is indisputably one of the most relevant names in the contemporary generation of Australian musicians.
The album cannot be compared with the previous ones, namely "The Winter Blues", although some songs touch on the same themes and question similar concerns, but "About the Girl" is particularly different because it denotes, from the opening to the final track, a more mature approach to Emma Russack's recurring problems, both lyrically and musically.
A very balanced, cohesive and coherent album that offers a very rewarding listening experience and a handful of standout songs like "Everything is Big"; “In 2001”; "I know you feel this way too", "This isn't free" and "Time". Overall, "About The Girl" is one of the best albums of the year to come from the so-called Australian music scene and beyond.
INDIEVOTION RATING: 8.7/10