Project Description

JOSH PYKE
“Rome”
(Album Review)

Reviewer – Jacob Morris

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With a fresh outlook on life and creativity, Josh Pyke returns with a strong contender for his most impressive album to date. 

It’s not hard to understand why Josh Pyke has earned a reputation as one of Australia’s favourite song writers. A decade plus career has cemented his legacy as a master storyteller musician. Fans have cherished his ability to combine emotionally insightful lyrics with heartfelt compositions throughout his consistent five-album discography. His last release, “But for All These Shrinking Hearts,” debuted second on the ARIA charts, certifying the record as his most successful to date. With four ARIA Awards under his belt, Josh’s momentum was showing no signs of slowing down. However, a five-year break from releasing new material found the Aussie musician exploring other endeavours.

While there were no hints of album number six in sight, it would be inaccurate to suggest that the artist wasn’t keeping busy. In 2016 Josh fulfilled his childhood dream performing sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House alongside the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The following year he released a compilation to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of his debut album which also contained B-side tracks. Josh’s creativity proved to excel beyond song writing with the success of his children’s book Lights Out. He also formed a surprise indie rock side project titled Sword Owls, silencing any doubters of his active status. Returning to the forefront of the Australian music scene, Josh Pyke presents his new record “Rome.” The musician shares eleven sincere stories influenced by a revitalised perspective on life and creativity, proving his song writing capabilities are far from diminishing.

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The path to Rome begins with “Old Times’ Sake,” a dive into hindsight and a new outlook. Slow acoustic chords create familiar territory for a Josh Pyke piece. It’s the accompanying piano and bittersweet lyrics here that help this opener introduce the theme of the record. Josh sings about the inability to change past experiences and how life’s inevitable end can be viewed positively as motivation for people to live every day to the fullest. “You can’t escape yourself,” Josh explains. “You can’t escape the reality of your own experience and your own life, and Rome as it was when it was in its great period doesn’t exist anymore. Everything fades, everything crumbles, and you can’t escape that experience, and all roads lead back to that fact.” He further reveals that the creative process of the album was inspired by this concept. “Old Times’ Sake” succeeds as a fitting first track that demonstrates what’s to come, even if it isn’t as unique in sound as Josh’s previous album opener “Book of Revelations.”

It isn’t difficult to understand why Josh released “Doubting Thomas” as a single back in April. The track feels like a breath of fresh air with its immediate fast pace and upbeat tempo. An unexpected solo elevates the song’s originality and highlights Josh’s development as a creative song writer. Lyrically, it explores dealing with life’s difficult surprises and reflects on unavoidable situations that result in losing a loved one. With “Doubting Thomas,” Josh applies the new inspiration behind his creativity and accomplishes one of the strongest triumphs of his career. “I Thought We Were a River” continues the high energy with electric guitar and drums displaying a style reminiscent of There Is Nothing Left to Lose era Foo Fighters. The track flirtatiously teases listeners with the taste of a Josh Pyke alternative rock band. The lyrics showcase Josh metaphorically visualising himself as a land that the sea washes over. Although he understands he can’t prevent this action, he refuses to let the water carry him away. This imagery emphasises one of the album’s main concepts of not dwelling on the past.

“Home” and “Don’t Let It Wait” are two slower yet emotionally powerful pieces which benefit from additional percussion, strings and an effective inclusion of trumpet. Both tracks have already been released and have received overwhelmingly positive reactions from listeners. In “Home,” Josh once again utilises metaphor and imagery to aid a soothing composition that pays homage to nature and love. “Don’t Let It Wait,” is undoubtedly the most relevant song on the album in relation to the current COVID-19 situation. Josh urges listeners to express love to the important people in our lives because we can’t predict the curveballs that life can throw our way at any moment. “Don’t Let It Wait” is a beautifully crafted achievement with a perpetually relevant message, more relatable now than ever. “Still We Carry On” sits strategically in between the two aforementioned tracks. Its relaxed and mellow style gives listeners a break so that they can properly absorb “Home” before immediately heading into “Don’t Let It Wait.” With folk and country influenced acoustics and vocals, “Still We Carry On” is a lone wolf. Though it can’t help but feel like an intended interlude since it is one of the album’s shorter compositions and due to its placement. It fails to evoke the same emotional response as previous pieces, though it succeeds at demonstrating Josh’s diverse song writing capabilities once removed from the context of the record.

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The following three tracks share hints of Josh’s earlier and more mellow sounding albums as a sign that he hasn’t forgotten his roots. “The Closing Eye” pulls listeners into a dreamlike trance with its atmospheric acoustics and soothing vocals. Poetic lyrics filled with a deep richness help this track stand strong. “You’re My Colour” is the most familiar sounding composition on “Rome.” It’s a love song with instrumentals that would feel suitable amongst the tracks on Josh’s preceding albums. Josh is a veteran of this uplifting acoustic style and is able to craft love songs that don’t fall into cringeworthy territory due to his proficient song and lyric writing abilities. “You’re My Colour” is no exception and provides long-term fans with a sense of familiarity, even if its main ideas aren’t original. Lead single “I Don’t Know” is a haunting, acoustic piece that grabs listeners without hesitation and doesn’t let go for its short two-minute duration. The song justifies its existence as a compelling and important addition to “Rome” more so than “Still We Carry On.” Although similar in length, the former track’s pensive lyrics accompanied by piano, accordion and trumpet will transfix listeners and make “I Don’t Know” a wonderfully mesmerising experience.

“Old Songs Now” opens with Josh’s vocals alongside strings. It seems likely that Josh’s experience at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra influenced the creative process of this song and its easy to visualise an orchestral version being performed on stage. While its satisfying to hear Josh experiment with various sounds, “Old Songs Now” is perhaps a little too ambitious. Some awkward tempo which comes across as jarring creates a sense that the track doesn’t quite find its footing halfway through. However, that’s certainly not to say Josh shouldn’t delve further into this particular style, as he’s proven time and again that he is more than capable of mastering varied styles. “Where Goes the Girl” is a six-minute epic which showcases Josh’s skilful storytelling strengths. Poetic lyrics combined with exquisite acoustic fingerpicking sets the stage in elegance for the album’s conclusion. “Where Goes the Girl” is elevated further as strings join the composition. This build up of instruments never loses effectiveness and results in a breathtaking finale. All roads lead to Rome and with a fresh perspective on life and creativity, Josh arguably delivers his most impressive album to date. Though time will tell if “Rome” can stand tall as a uniquely remarkable accomplishment like the city it was named after, or if it will just be another addition of an impressively consistent discography. 

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ROME
Tracklist

1. Old Times’ Sake
2. Doubting Thomas
3. I Thought We Were A River
4. Home
5. Still We Carry On
6. Don’t Let It Wait
7. The Closing Eye
8. You’re My Colour
9. I Don’t Know
10. Old Songs Now
11. Where Goes The Girl

Pre-order ROME HERE

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Follow JOSH PYKE
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

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BIO

Josh Pyke’s first studio album in five years, Rome, finds him coming to terms with a simple fact: everything fades. But for the Sydney-based creative there is hope and beauty in accepting one of life’s hard truths.

“It’s that line, all roads lead to Rome,” he explains. “You can’t escape yourself. You can’t escape the reality of your own experience and your own life, and Rome as it was when it was in its great period doesn’t exist anymore. Everything fades, everything crumbles, and you can’t escape that experience, and all roads lead back to that fact.”

Sitting in a corner of his home studio, Timshel Industries, his litany of ARIA awards sitting atop a nearby piano, his thickening beard framing his face, he leans back on his chair and lets out a small laugh.

“It’s not necessarily a negative thing. It’s just the way it is. And if you dwell on that it’ll either make you feel nihilistic or you’ll feel like, let’s just do good work now and engage in art and creativity. That’s pretty much what preoccupied my thinking and has massively informed the album.”

Indeed Rome is anything but a negative, nihilistic album. It’s a record filled with love – of family, of creativity, of nature, of life and its many possibilities – yet at 42, Pyke knows our existence is full of ups, downs and sideways moments, and we’re left with little choice but to accept and adapt to them all. In that regard, it’s also an album of healing.

“It’s the self-therapy idea of catharsis and accepting things for the way they are and not trying to fight it.”

Rome is Pyke’s long-awaited follow-up to 2015’s But For All These Shrinking Hearts – which debuted at Number 2 in Australia, his highest chart entry to date – and marks his return to his solo career following a two-year break from the stage.

That break came off the back of an intense three-year stretch in which Pyke released But For All These Shrinking Hearts; performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (immortalised on the ARIA Award-winning Live At The Sydney Opera House album); released a Greatest Hits LP; toured with an all-star line-up performing The Beatles’ White Album; and played some of the biggest local and international solo shows of his career.

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While remaining incredibly busy pursuing other creative exploits during the hiatus from his solo career – more on that later – the time away gave Pyke a chance to take stock.

“I didn’t look at my hard drive of songs for nine months. And then I came back and looked at all the songs and went, I actually love these songs! Then I was super fired up and I wrote another eight. And I realised that over those five years I’d written around 40 songs.”

While in the past Pyke would write on tour, demo the songs at home and then head into the studio with a producer, the benefit of time afforded a more relaxed, unstructured process. Some nights he’d head out the back of his Sydney home to his studio, pour a whiskey and record “whatever I was mucking around with” and then just leave it. The first song he wrote for the album, “Old Time’s Sake”, stretches back to 2016 but was only finished two years later.

“In some ways the only other album I’ve done that with was my first album [2007’s Memories & Dust],” he says. “It was good. You’d come back with proper objective ears.”

By early 2019 Pyke was ready to record, self-producing in Timshel Studios and playing most of the instruments himself. (The drums were handled by Josh Schuberth in his Blue Mountains studio.) As with the writing sessions, recording was a relaxed process, in which friends such as All Our Exes Live In Texas accordionist/vocalist Elana Stone (piano, accordion), acclaimed musician Stephanie Zarka (strings) and Skinny Legions’ creative force Glenn Hopper (accordion) would pop around to lay down tracks when required. Long-time collaborator Matt Fell added bass and sonic flourishes at his Leichhardt studio, rounding out the creative process.

“I can’t imagine making a record any other way in the future,” says Pyke.

An unwavering desire for creative adventure resulted in Pyke leaving the suburban bubble of his home studio and flying to Portland to mix the album with acclaimed producer Tucker Martine (The Decembrists, My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse).

“The recording was so domestic that I wanted to go to Portland to mix it because I really felt I needed some kind of creative closure for the whole project,” says Pyke. “Tucker brought a depth of experience, and a level of objectivity. And he was so pumped on every song. And hearing that from a Grammy-nominated American mixer who mixes The Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens, it’s a massive confidence builder.”

When taken in conjunction with the universal themes that inform the album and its title – you can’t escape the reality of your own experience – working with Martine in Portland changed Pyke’s view of his creative output.  

“It put me in that frame of mind of going, these songs are just songs. They’re not Australian songs. I’m an Australian, and they’re proudly written from my experience of living in Australia, but they’re just songs. They have a life in this world. So it brought an international perspective to it where I was like, this doesn’t have to be an Australian album. This is just an album. A piece of art.”

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In some ways, Rome is the sound of the Josh Pyke we’ve come to know and love, with songs such as “I Don’t Know”, “Another Song” and “Where Goes The Girl” featuring his trademark mix of gorgeous, wistful melodies, heart-warming harmonies and nostalgia-tinged storytelling. It’s a combination that has seen each of his five studio albums become Top 10 hits in Australia, garnering four ARIA Awards in the process while also accumulating a large international fanbase (his final European tour before going on hiatus was his biggest to date).

Yet there is a difference to Rome – an audible sonic twist spurred on by Pyke being afforded the time and space to recalibrate. You can hear it in the squawling stabs of guitar in the languid “Don’t Let It Wait” and the arrangement of the upbeat, anthemic “Doubting Thomas”.

“One of the benefits of the break was getting rid of self-imposed rules,” he says. “‘Doubting Thomas’ references the fact I’m just making music I want to make. It’s got a weird, long instrumental solo thing in the middle that I would never have done five years ago. Having no time constraints and no real agenda gave me freedom.”

Though Pyke is well established as a singer-songwriter, his creativity has long extended well beyond that discipline. His two-year absence from solo touring provided an opportunity to fully pursue other artistic endeavours, as he ventured into the world of children’s books, releasing the award-nominated Lights Out, Leonard as well as co-authoring A Banana Is A Banana with renowned entertainer Justine Clarke. (He has three more kids’ books due for release in 2020 and 2021 through Scholastic.) He also snuck a self-produced punk album onto streaming services under the name Sword Owls (a name conceived by one of his sons while still in kindergarten).

Pyke’s perspective on his career changed after a chance meeting with a fellow parent who also works in the entertainment industry.

“She said, ‘You’ve got to stop thinking of yourself as a musician, you’ve got to start thinking of yourself as a creative’,” recalls Pyke. “And literally from that day I was like, that’s right. Music is the thing that became my main career, but everything I do, whether it’s making content for social media or thinking up ideas for merch, all of those things are creative decisions. And as soon as I started thinking about my life as being a creative and not just being a musician it shifted everything. And it’s been a really great creative period, and it scratches a lot of different itches.”

Pyke’s relentless creativity also extends to some of his philanthropic pursuits. A passionate supporter of Indigenous rights, Pyke is a lifetime ambassador of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. In 2014 he teamed up with music rights organisation APRA AMCOS to establish The Josh Pyke Partnership, which each year gives one up and coming artist a financial grant and mentoring expertise to assist with their career (previous winners include Angie McMahon, Gordi and Alex Lahey). Pyke is also an Ambassador for APRA AMCOS, a role that involves him advocating for the rights of creators.

This broad approach to creativity supports one of the core themes of Rome – though in time everything crumbles, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the most of each moment.

“The only thing you can do is not be nihilistic and not give into these dark feelings and just enjoy the things that are important. Which is basically creativity and love,” he says. “We’re not in control of the things that form us, but we’re in control of how we respond to the things that form us.”

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AMNPLIFY – DB