The fascinating tale behind The Revolution Is Never Coming, is as much a deserving story as the masterpiece it inspired.
When you find yourself swallowed up by the living, breathing creature that the debut album from The Red Paintings is, consider this was sitting in frontman/producer Trash McSweeney’s head what he calls his “entire life”.
What you are hearing in 75 minutes of exquisitely built art rock is his life and it’s served up in a wonderful package of art which includes lyrics, pictures, credits, philosophising, and any other part of his being that McSweeney couldn’t fit into the music.
Taking elements from the full rainbow of rock from the 60s to the future and beyond, you’ll find The Beatles sitting alongside Karnivool, and Radiohead in a world where Seattle grunge, punk, neo-classical, prog, and many more genres live harmoniously.
This amalgamation was created by The Red Paintings with help from a choir, violin, cello, horns, guitar, synth, bass and drums. Oh, and a 35-piece orchestra.
Opener ‘Vampires Are Chasing Me’ begins with a swirling mix of synth, keys and restrained vocals, gradually introducing the melancholic strings and uplifting choir.
The cacophony of ‘Dead Children’, driven by haunting stream of consciousness vocals, field recordings and richly layered instrumentation unleashes a journey of moods, none of them happy, before the climactic power of ‘Hong Kong’ leaves you exhausted and drained.
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It could all end there, but McSweeney places his mouth over yours, resuscitating the listener with the ballad ‘Deleted Romantic’, only to cruelly destroy all hope with the closing and epic title track.
There is nothing to fault in this extraordinary and long awaiting long player debut and it will no doubt bring further international acclaim to the Australian band.
