GenQ - For the not so straight individual

When the ARIA for Best Female Artist was awarded last year, most people, including myself, heard the name Clare Bowditch and wondered who the hell she was. Admittedly the field was thin, without Missy Higgins or Sarah Blasko, but most punters would have expected Kasey Chambers to walk away with the pointy trophy. While already gaining ground on the indie touring circuit with enthusiastic support from Triple J for their second album, ‘What Was Left’, the ARIA put Clare Bowditch and her band, The Feeding Set, on the map in Australia, and we’re all better off for it. Now Bowditch and her band return with ‘The Moon Looked On’, another dose of bent melodic folk pop about love and life.. but this time there’s a lot more sex.

Desire and infidelity are explored on the album, though happily married Bowditch admits it to being a work of fiction, but that the human emotions are universal. Workplace lust is the subject of cheeky and playful opening track ‘You Look So Good’ and the floating vocals of ‘I Am Not Allowed’ contemplate temptation, the string arrangement lifting the song beautifully. Forbidden love song, ‘That Wouldn’t Be So Good’ has the narrative and sound of a roots/country song and on ‘You Can Stay The Night’ the layered vocals and moody strings provide a highlight on the album.

But it’s love, rather than lust, that takes the main stage on ‘The Moon Looked On’. Ethereal vocals and dramatic strings build the haunting ‘Peccadilloes’ and the achingly sweet and tender, ‘Between the Tea and the Toast’ could easily feature on a ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode… in fact most of the tracks could. Album highlight ‘Little Black Cave’ has the kind of melodic hook that could effortlessly make it a radio hit, the layered backing vocals swelling exquisitely.

The tempo kicks up a notch on lead single, ‘When the Lights Went Down’, sitting a little more in the indie pop camp with a bluesy feel, as well as on soulful, ‘Your Other Hand’, a praise of individuality that gets bonus points for using the word ‘jzushed’. ‘I Love the Way You Talk’ has the journeying feel of the lyrics with a majestic, uplifting chorus, as well as some unusual tribal instruments that give it a slightly exotic sound.

The shortest track on the album, ‘This Bastard Disease’, about a loved one slipping into a disease, (dementia? addiction? personal demons?), is also one of the most affecting. Bowditch brilliantly expresses the anger and despair of the person on the outside and the accompanying male choir lifts the song another notch. Atmospheric closing track ‘People Like You, People Like Me’ has a strange but effective mix of eastern influences and the strings are intensely dramatic.

The very limited and very special edition bonus disc of ‘Campfire Versions’ features a solo Bowditch and her acoustic guitar. With the lack of strings and backing vocals some of the tracks do loose some of their magic but Bowditch shines nonetheless, and it’s worth getting in quick before the limited editions reach their limit.

Bowditch’s confessional and visual songwriting style unfolds in each song like poetry. When music is this good it’s art and Bowditch is a true artist. Her songs feel like a collection of short stories put to atmospheric music from her band, ‘The Feeding Set’, flittering between darkness and joy, and the bewitching vocals and arrangements on each passing track will have you falling deeper under her spell.