Three fantastic new albums with a touch of intimacy - The Tutts' hint at smoky clubs, Barry Saunders gives an authentic personal quality to his songs and Tim Finn takes a gentle ramble down suburban streets and family life.
Four stars (out of 5)
Smoky rooms, pulsing strobes and various states of intoxication; The Tutts nail the ideal soundtrack for an early '90s summer evening.
Effortlessly transcending the divide from post-punk to uplifting house, the Auckland five-piece drag the north of England south.
After the runaway success of 2006 single K, the Tutts engaged in a lengthy process to ensure that Get In The Club lives up to the hype.
What they might have given away in spontaneity they have more than made up for with a polished set of tunes that, importantly, still retains the essence of a band ripping it up in an intimate club.
Single download: Seven
For those who like: New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths, The Cure.
- Mark Orton
Four stars (out of 5)
When Warratahs frontman Barry Saunders takes The Phoenix Foundation's Going Fishing and reshapes it as a country ballad, he does so with the quiet confidence of a man who can trust his instincts.
And despite the ever-present lyrical pointers to a fragile ego and a questioning mind, his place as an artist of substance is only enhanced by Zodiac - yet another strong solo album.
Saunders has a knack for avoiding the mawkish sentimentality that plagues the genre, lending his songs an authentic personal quality.
These are diary entries set to familiar and well-played country backings.
Single download: Here Comes Tomorrow
For those who like: Paul Kelly
- Jeff Harford
Four stars (out of 5)
Tim Finn's latest album hints at intimacy, an approach he carries off well with the help of friends, including long-time Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Raynor and violinist Miles Golding, the first person to depart the band (in 1973).
Finn takes an understated, gentle ramble down the hallways of family life and along suburban streets: a couple of songs are dedicated to his wife (Forever Thursday, Out of This World), another reflects on the hit-and-run death of a young woman in the neighbourhood (Invisible), and final track More Fool Me covers his falling-out with Phil Judd.
Single download: Forever Thursday.
For those who like: Music without frills.
- Shane Gilchrist
