The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll by Robert Forster

Author:Robert Forster [ROBERT FORSTER]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Schwartz Publishing Pty. Ltd
Published: 2011-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

God Save His Soul

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The Sleepy Jackson’s Personality: One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird

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It happened the old-fashioned way, by hearing the single first. ‘God Lead Your Soul’, it’s called. You play it once and think, That’s a strange record, and then find it doesn’t leave you. You come back the next day and play it twice, and it intrigues even more. So you try and unlock its charms, its whereabouts, almost. What is this record, this glorious slice of circa-1970 country-pop that begins as if in the middle of the song, and then continues to shift across the musical landscape like a Western stagecoach – harmonies, pedal steel, a brass section from the late ’60s all coming in, and yet none of it, bizarrely enough, with the imprint of retro upon it. The song’s good, and it’s been carried through these production styles to create something otherworldly and precious, and miles from the punch of much contemporary music. It’s the work of Luke Steele, he of The Sleepy Jackson, and it’s the first shot of a man going out on a limb, consequences be damned.

The Sleepy Jackson came out of Perth in 1999. They released two well-received EPs, and then Lovers, their debut album, came out in 2003. As career positioning, it all seemed perfect. The album got ecstatic reviews, then ARIA nominations, and the international press sat up and took notice. Here was a young band with a charismatic lead singer and songwriter ready to go anywhere. Lovers charted in the UK, the band toured, but, as often happens with successful young musicians on the road, things started to fray. Members left, management got tangled, lawsuits and bad blood followed. After the giddy trip, Steele found himself alone (a recurrent word on this new album): the captain of the ship, as always, but with no one around him to command. Personality was born of these circumstances. It’s the fight out. The work of a man on a mission – chips on both shoulders, God behind him – convinced he can make a masterpiece.

The album’s set-up is almost a pastiche of a pop epic. There’s a 24-piece live orchestra, percussion, vibraphone, banks of harmonies and choral arrangements, plus the usuals: synths, keyboards, bass and drums, and up to four guitarists on some songs. It’s all there, a sumptuous blend heralding the confidence Steele has in his own songwriting. All of this is fuelled by the very interesting ‘personality’ of Steele, who is almost a parody, at times, of the eccentric, messianic pop star. He has created an alter ego called Luke Blonde (Steele in a blond wig), who runs the Church of Harmonology; there are photos with clocks and other props, slogans written on hands, and a whole run of attention-seeking pop behaviour that’s both a cry for meaning and a way for him to psych himself into total self-belief. He’s got that, and he’s set out to make that very rare beast, hard to find on the Australian

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