Alderman - Over To You

Mon 19th Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

Australia has long produced some amazing artists that flit between country, folk and soul music. It’s what musicians like Paul Kelly and The Whitlams are able to do, combining music fused with beautiful melodies and lyrics charged with a real honesty and directness that see them get into people’s lives and go straight to their hearts.

Sydney’s Alderman has just release an album, Over to You that’s filled with all of these intimate and personal offerings. The album opener, I Don’t Love You is like a diary entry read aloud. But instead of using a notepad to jot his thoughts down, Alderman is using his acoustic guitar as his canvas to tell his stories of love, loss, pain and redemption.

This tone flows with such strength and conviction throughout the entire album that at first you feel that what’s being sung/spoken to you is too personal and maybe you shouldn’t be listening. But this frankness and honesty has such a purity to it, the album becomes a conversation between you and the singer.

It’s you and friend in a small city cafe, as the world rushes by frantically outside, you’re focused completely on what’s being said. And it’s this quality of everydayness to Alderman’s songs that make the album instantly accessible.

The instrumentation is delicate throughout, always in perfect balance with the melody. Over to You and Lee stand out among the many finely composed songs. There’s a lightness in the music that is counterpointed by what Alderman is singing about.

A peaceful collection of thoughts in song that offer respite and support, this is a tiny little gem and the perfect company when you just need to shut the world out and reflect.