Fresh from releasing his latest album, Wow & Flutter, last month, Buddy Glass runs us through the tracks on this stunning piece of work.
If you’ve paid attention to the Australian music scene over the last few decades, then you’d likely know that anything Bruno Brayovic slaps his name on is going to be of the utmost quality. Why, years spent fronting Sydney’s Peabody, and an album as Buddy Glass is enough to give even a minimum amount of proof to that notion.
However, it’s his latest Buddy Glass record, Wow & Flutter, that’s the centre of our attention today. Released last month, it’s arguably one of the finest pieces of work he’s been involved in to date, with singles such as ‘Wasted Habit’ and ‘No One Can Tell You You’re Wrong’ helping to show potential fans just what they’re in for.
Now, the man himself has been kind enough to take us on a musical journey through each of the album’s stunning tracks, giving us the lowdown in a way that only he can – with passionate storytelling and acerbic wit.
Check out ‘Wasted Habit’ by Buddy Glass:
Buddy Glass talks us through Wow & Flutter
‘Promised Shoreline’
Two families of faith move in next to each other. Their kids meet in church, grow up, get married in that same church, and have normal lives. Except something nags at them both throughout all their years, but neither says anything. They were each placed on their godly path without any choice, like so many others have before them, and they dare not question it. One of them dies, leaving the other free to make that choice. But in the end, who has left who behind?
‘The Spirit Of A Small Town’
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Quaintness, beauty and friendliness hold the surface tension of many a small town. But ask anyone who has lived in one for many years and they’ll warn you about the dangerous bubbles of disquiet churning away under that surface. Suicide, alcohol abuse, political skulduggery, infidelity, and houses of ill-repute.
My mother’s picturesque, middle-class rural life was peppered with these afflictions and It took me and my cousins many years of torch-lit faces under the covers and clandestine conversations, to to put together the pieces we’d each found to make one whole, strange and ugly puzzle.
‘The Bird’
Could be part three of a climate change trilogy which includes the opening two tracks of my debut album. A snapshot of a day in the life of an Australian wedge-tailed eagle.
Check out ‘If You Sail Out’ by Buddy Glass:
‘Wasted Habit’
Roll up, roll up! Free will vs. determinism! Come and witness the battle to end all battles! Will definitely sell out! This song is the kid inside me closing my eyes, blocking my ears and yelling “I’m not here! I’m not here!”
‘If You Sail Out’
Start asking questions, delve into it. The further in you go, the more questions you’ll have. The more you know, the less you know and the stranger things get. The further away you can see yourself and your life from, the more you realise you don’t know anything. If you sail out past this story, you’ll see your life in all its glory. And If you sail out into the darkness, you’ll see your life in all its starkness.
It’s the most hippy song I’ve written, but don’t let the yoga pants fool you. It knows.
‘No One Can Tell You You’re Wrong’
It takes a lot of courage to follow a dream. To disown everything around you and make your way through life doing what you really want to do. You might have to step on some necks. People and relationships will fall (or will be felled) by the side of the road. This song is about and for those who have that conviction and ambition. I don’t.
Check out ‘No One Can Tell You You’re Wrong’ by Buddy Glass:
‘Yuppie, Junkie, Athlete’
It’s early in the morning in Marrickville and you see someone on a bike at a distance. They’re wearing active-wear but that doesn’t tell you much else about them. Is it the amateur athlete, training for next week’s triathlon?
Perhaps a hip home-owner on his way to buy his morning almond latté on a vintage fixie? Or is it the local ice guy, who’s had his two hours of sleep and is now industriously getting up early to score? It’s time to play, yuppie, junkie, or athlete!
‘The Only’
The dimwitted lovechild Dylan and Rodriguez never had. An epic checklist of modern malaises, combining the album’s main musical themes into six minutes of 60s singer-songwriter-inspired folk-drone. Yeah, I know.
Buddy Glass’ Wow & Flutter is out now, with physical copies available via Bandcamp.
