Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy - Glow and Fade (2017)

Steve Kilbey... singer, songwriter, bassist, painter, writer, poet, actor, sage, is one of Australia's most loved artists. In 1980 he formed The Church, and he has released 14 solo music albums since. His song 'Under the Milky Way' won the Best Single of the Year award at the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards event in 1989. The music of Martin Kennedy has featured in CSI: Miami, One Tree Hill, The Lying Game, the UK's long running Emmerdale, and many more. Martin and his band All India Radio have released ten acclaimed albums since 1999. This fifth album by Steve Kilbey and Martin Kennedy is an eight track masterpiece, which opens with the spacey dream rock of title track and second single, Glow And Fade, which immediately transports the listener to another world with Kilbey's melancholic optimism reminding all of our earthly, human limitations. The rest of the album includes the dynamism of The Game Never Changes, a 16 minute prog-rock inspired epic, going through some of Kilbey's darkest ever lyrics and ending with a soaring solo of Pink Floyd proportions. With echoes of David Bowie and Roger Waters then comes 'They Know', with it's oblique lyrics interweaved with lush acoustic guitar, strings and trumpet. The fourth track on the album, 'We Are Still Waiting', was the first single to be lifted from the album. It's driving synth laden dream pop with everything that was good about the '80s and showcases Kilbey's lyrical mastery in a beautiful duet with Melbourne vocalist, Selena Cross. Cross also joins Kilbey for 'The Law of the Jungle', a real-life break-up being the catalyst for this heart achingly raw song. 'Levitate' and 'The Story of Jonah', continue the brilliance, with slow beats, dark synth, and prog-rock overtones. Completing the magic is 'One Is All', a play on 'All Is One' from Kilbey Kennedy's first album together, providing a fitting bookend to the ten years of collaboration and an uplifting conclusion to 'Glow and Fade'.