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Oceans Apart

by

The Go-Betweens

 
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Oceans Apart
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Avg: 4.0 (66 ratings)

  • We Say...

    Review by Elisabeth Vincentelli

    The Go-Betweens' reunion may not have made as much of a bang as, say, the Pixies', but since they got back together in 2000 after a decade-long hiatus, the Australian band has been pulling off an ever greater feat: It's been releasing noteworthy albums. The comeback CD, 2000's The Friends of Rachel Worth, recorded with members of Sleater-Kinney, was a pleasant surprise, and although 2003's Bright Yellow Bright Orange displayed an alarmingly dull side, Oceans Apart is accomplished enough to take its place along the Go-Betweens' finest achievements of the '80s. Anchored by returning bassist Adele Pickvance and drummer Glenn Thompson, the Go-Betweens now sound supremely cohesive again.

    On Oceans Apart, the core quartet is augmented by a horn section, giving the sound a subtle richness that harks back to the halcyon days of 1987's Tallulah and 1988's 16 Lovers Lane — perhaps not coincidentally, it's the first Go-Betweens album recorded in London since Tallulah and it's produced by Mark Wallis, who worked on 16 Lovers Lane. But arrangements can only take a band so far; what makes this album so great is that Robert Forster and Grant McLennan are back writing at peak level. Clearly distinct (you can always tell who wrote which song), they are also so complementary that none of their solo efforts has ever equalled their collaborations. Among McLennan highlights are the elegiac "Finding You" and the darker "Statue," while Forster shines on the bouncy "Born to a Family."

    Exploring the past is a running theme of the album, one which the two songwriters channel each their own ways. Forster's "Darlinghurst Nights," for instance, reminisces about acquaintances and events in a positively giddy manner, while McLennan's melancholy "Boundary Rider," about his growing up on a Queensland cattle station, is like a short story that unfolds in less than three minutes. Few musicians — in any style — can reach so many grace notes with such frequency as these two.

  • They Say...

    Review by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

    Though it's been two years since Bright Yellow Bright Orange, Oceans Apart is further proof that the Go-Betweens are still a going concern. It is their third recording since reuniting after a 12-year hiatus. The lineup is the same as the last time out: Songwriters and frontmen Robert Forster and Grant McLennan are joined once more by drummer Glenn Thompson, and bassist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist Adele Pickvance. In addition, there is a small wind and brass section on some tracks, and, for a change, no strings. The band dug into its past for this one, bringing in producer Mark Wallis, who helmed the sessions for the classic 16 Lovers Lane in 1988. Oceans Apart sounds very little like its aforementioned predecessor, but that's hardly a problem. Wallis understands the band's subtleties and the textures they like to evoke better than anyone else they've ever worked with. His production is more assertive, but hardly excessive. In fact, he lends the added dimension (he loves keyboards and electronic percussions) the band's records have lacked since their comeback. The set opens with "Here Comes a City," a literary rocker by Forster. Its shimmering, chunka-chunka riff and Forster's vocals feel like a refined, musical nod to the Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime." It's also paranoid, clamoring for an edge it doesn't quite get to, and careens along to an uncertain yet quite arresting end. Things become a bit more characteristic on McLennan's beautiful "Finding You," with its lilting guitars, spare, clean lines, and poetic, emotional lyrics that can open veins with the fine slash of their honesty. The dreamy, pillowy "No Reason to Cry" is among the more elegant songs McLennan has ever composed. Its soulful vocal, chorus, and the way Wallis layers keyboards, vocals, and Forster's distorted lead lines give the lyrics great weight and depth. It's a truly wonderful pop song. The poetry in "Darlinghurst Nights" is some of Forster's more poignant, moving through reverie, grief, and loss. The weave of acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, drums, and percussion surrounds his voice, pushing it out in front just enough to let his words move toward the listener with enough force to draw her in. In contrast, his "Lavender" touches country music but never goes there. Loops, keyboards, and washes of guitars carry the tune somewhere else as a clarinet wafts in from the margin. Once more, its reverie is in his lyric, with a hint of the previous, as it meets the solitary present, and it's gorgeous. The electronic beats in "The Statue" are a bit jarring until the watery, warm, and luscious keyboards slip underneath subtly, only to be buoyed by a ringing lead-guitar line and McLennan's vocal speaking his desire without flinching. Forster's brief, elegiac "Mountains Near Dellray" closes the set with another sense of place, very different from his opener's. The mood is pastoral as the guitars wind and slip over one another. In addition, early editions of the CD come with a six-track, live EP, recorded at the Barbican in 2004. With its imagination, startling creativity, and sheer pop soul, Oceans Apart is the first great Go-Betweens' record of the 21st century.

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