:: Russell Crawford - Floating Aimlessly

Russell Crawford

It may be the title of his album, but Russell Crawford isn‘t floating aimlessly. Instead he's put together an exquisite debut album that's all heart and indie class. Unfortunately, this rather respectable offering by the young Aussie starts off on a sour note. Opening track 'Overachiever’ should be renamed underachiever. Ok, enough with the puns. ‘Overachiever’ has promise, but its country pop tones mash horribly with Crawford‘s melancholic vocals. The drum melody is too intense, like a bad Monkees song. Then just when you think the suffering is over, the track breaks into another round, sung by a very screechy Crawford and all of a sudden you're overcome with the urge to throw the album out the window. But don't do that! If you do, you'll be doing yourself a great injustice as Crawford quickly makes up for one horrible song with eleven great ones. Track number two, 'Bad Luck’ is testament to that. With a funky drum beat and ambling lyrics it‘s fun and quirky. If anything, it showcases exactly how enchanting Crawford can be in the right context. Crawford is an instrumental superstar, playing the bass, guitar, drums and piano duties for Josh Pyke on his 2008 tour. All of the tracks on floating aimlessly are beautifully put together. You can tell that Crawford has put a lot of work into the music that supports his vocals, which is a nice change. And all this work definitely pays off, more than making up for the sometimes lacklustre vocals. This is exactly the case in 'My Love’. Probably inspired by The Beatles, actually definitely inspired by The Beatles, ‘My Love’ is a little weak vocally, but packs are incredible melodic punch. The drum beats are beautifully timed, breaking through the rich guitar and finishing with little ‘cha, cha, cha’ maracas finish – infectious. Floating Aimlessly ends with a remake of the classic ‘Thank You For Being a Friend’. Instead of trying to modernise it or make it his own, Crawford's remake is like a nice, familiar hug - warm and fuzzy and beautifully played, which is all very welcome. In all, Russell Crawford's debut album is a sweet offering to the Australian music world. There's a heap of sensitivity that comes with the indie territory, but Crawford has given the genre his own sombre sophistication. Like Neil Finn with the effervescence only a Gen Yer could bring to the table.