Many things are born of new marriages. Matching linen, tiny humans and for Australian troubadour Jack Carty, a new album Home State due for worldwide release on Friday 5 August through Carty’s own Curly Co. Recordings/MGM Distribution.
Home State was performed, recorded and produced by Carty over the past year in his little apartment in Brisbane’s Red Hill, in pockets of time between his upstairs neighbours’ tap-dancing and his new wife Natasha’s Netflix addiction.
From the opening groove of ‘All At Once’ to the closing chorus of ‘Wedding Song’ each line is considered, each melody evocative; searching, building and questioning, just like the mind that made it.
The driving rhythms and dreamy countermelodies of ‘Instruments’ and ‘Kindness Is A Dying Art’ brim with beauty and tension. ‘Berlin’ builds through narrative wit to a blistering guitar solo. ‘This Is What It Feels Like To Die’ showcases Carty’s knack for a gorgeously devastating turn of phrase; and, if you listen closely, you’ll hear a choir of cicadas lend their charm to the stunning simplicity of ‘A Way With Me’.
There is an underlying atmosphere of gratitude to this music, revealing a writer excited about the space he is inhabiting – both figuratively and physically.
Impressively, Carty took on the duties of performing every instrument himself except for the bass, which fell to longtime collaborator Gus Gardiner (Papa vs. Pretty) and a few tidy guitar solos from Jordan Millar. Carty’s cousin Airling and Jennifer Boyce (Ball Park Music) also popped in for scones and harmonies before the completed record was shipped off to Melbourne-based mixing magician Jimi Maroudas (Augie March, Kimbra, The Avalanches).
It is clear that – although Carty’s trademark honesty and hopefulness will never desert him – the lovelorn boy of One Thousand Origami Birds, Break Your Own Heart and Esk has evolved into a man of quiet confidence with a renewed excitement for stories and songwriting. Home State is undoubtedly his most accomplished record to date, in a growing catalogue of critically acclaimed releases.
The past year has been a big one for Carty including Australian tours with Darren Hanlon and Ingrid Michaelson, his hugely successful ‘Intimate & By Request’ run, and a solo tour of Europe and the UK taking in cities from Brighton to Berlin, from Söderköping to Stroud. In September, he swapped the stage for a suit to marry his illustrator/designer sweetheart before rounding out 2015 with a biannual APRA Professional Development Award for his musical efforts to date.
In 2016, Carty has already crossed the ditch for a New Zealand tour and is currently partway through a tour of The UK/Europe, taking in a coveted appearance at Primavera in Spain. He’ll return home in June to support friend and favourite Josh Pyke on a 27 date tour of regional Australia before the release of Home State on 5 August and a headline Australian/New Zealand Album Launch Tour of his own:
JACK CARTY
HOME STATE ALBUM TOUR
AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2016
FRI 19 AUG – STREET THEATRE – CANBERRA, ACT
SAT 20 AUG – NEWTOWN SOCIAL CLUB – SYDNEY, NSW
FRI 26 AUG – SHEBEEN BANDROOM – MELBOURNE, VIC
SAT 27 AUG – THE GRACE EMILY – ADELAIDE, SA
SUN 28 AUG – MOJOS BAR – FREMANTLE, WA
FRI 2 SEP – THE MILK FACTORY – BRISBANE, QLD
FRI 9 SEP – FRINGE BAR – WELLINGTON, NZ
SAT 10 SEP – THE WINE CELLAR – AUCKLAND, NZ
SUN 11 SEP – WALTON STREET – TE AWAMUTU, NZ