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Review: 'Araluen'
'And There It Is'   

-  Label: 'Kaloo Kalay Recordings/bandcamp'
-  Genre: 'Alt/Country' -  Release Date: '29.1.21.'

Our Rating:
Araluen or phonetically Ar-A-Loo-En is the solo project of Paul Lush whose best know at guitarist for Danny & The Champions Of The World, a band I seem to be one of the few people who doesn't worship them, for me always a good support act and good songwriters. Araluen don't have a fixed line up but for this record he has along members of The Champs, Treetop Flyers, The Mutton Birds, as well as Angela Gannon from The Magic Numbers on vocals for an album of very sophisticated country blues heartbreakers that a real gem of an album.

The album opens with Into The Arms of Another a song that seems to remind me of three or four different songs from the 70's including Up The Junction by Squeeze, even though it has breathy female vocals on the gentle song of betrayal and love found somewhere other than at home, with some gorgeous organ and pedal steel.

Killing Time is somewhere close to being a cross between Lone Justice and Texas this is a cool slice of heartbroken country rock, again Thomas Collison's keyboards are central to what makes this sounds magical to me.

The Girl Will Do is more love and betrayal and gorgeous keyboards with Paul Lush taking a guitar solo to punctuate the tale. Nice Idea At The Time is full of well-aimed barbs at the departing ex to make sure they know there time is up, this is gently melancholic and in similar territory to the songs on Lou Kyme's album that came out last year.

Things I Want To Say To You is a song full of chat up lines and the things you might say to someone you want to love, thankfully it's not begging and pleading just gently persuasive, how can you resist the siren singing to you, go on invite her round again and tell her how you feel as you cuddle up and drink some more red wine together, Paul Lush's carefully picked guitar solo aims for the spectral and gets there.

What made you Change your mind, well go on what was it, tell me and get good and breathy while you do. Oh Yeah! Is a slice of 70's style blues rock with great interplay between Paul Lush's guitar and Thomas Collison's keyboards it will keep many an Albert King or Allman Brothers fan happy a top notch instrumental.

Only For Tonight is that moment when she comes up real close and tells you what it will take to keep her along for the ride for one more night this is sort of Lone Justice meets Bonnie Raitt but not quite that windswept.

And There It Is a country blues song of yearning and wanting things to be better, things to be right the instrumental breaks really emphasize the lyrics making it sound all the more heartfelt.

Never In The Moment shares a bit of a tune with one of Danny & The Champs singles, but takes it someplace else with breathy requests for you to come here and love her now, when you've already moved on to pastures new this is full of pathos.

The Only Hearts Alive Tonight is a long slow seduction that unfurls deliciously as you mesh together as one. It Was Real To Me builds from a sparse acoustic intro into another country heartbreaker from that heart torn highway they love so much, the guitar almost climaxes as the regrets of a love lost unfolds.

The album closes with one more tale of heartbreak down on Jessica Avenue as she lets him know what he's had and what he's lost, it has some great organ for Paul to pick out a cool solo too, this album will make you hit repeat quite easily.

Find out more at https://araluen.bandcamp.com/album/and-there-it-is https://www.facebook.com/AraluenMusic
  author: simonovitch

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