REBECCA BARNARD – EVERLASTING

Everlasting is the latest album from Melbourne’s Rebecca Barnard, and only her second since parting ways with Rebecca’s Empire in 2000. Hardly prolific, perhaps, but she’s been busy. In the liner notes, Barnard writes of “…the constant dilemma of creativity vs motherhood… (and) trying to be everything to everyone.”  Given these pressures, it’s to her credit that she’s made an album with such a clear identity. These songs (recorded it in New York with expatriate jazz pianist Barny McAll) are honed, but effortless sounding. The best – Closer to You, Own Time, Fall and Walk, Age 14 – boast a mixture of sensuousness and grit that bears comparison to the work of Lucinda Williams. Guitars are gently strummed, pianos ripple, drums patter, the arrangements ebb and flow, and Barnard sings, her delivery unhurried, earthy, and tender. A highlight is a stripped-back cover of Robert Wyatt’s Seasong. Everlasting is an understated, intimate album, and very listenable. It’ll provide the perfect soundtrack for the long drive back from the beach – before the summer holidays end and school begins again – for years to come.
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