Gotye - Like Drawing Blood
(2006)

Review by Sean Lynch

Frustratingly it's taken a J-Award, an Aria Nomination and a Triple J Album of the Year gong in order for the powers that be to allow me to finally review this fine album from one of the most promising Australian artist since the likes of Powderfinger and Dan Kelly due to the fact that "No one know who the f**k that is".

Thankfully, with the help of word of mouth - and at the end of the day, amazing tunes - people now know who Gotye is.

Gotye (pronounced 'gore-ti-yeah') is Wally De Backer. He plays drums, percussion, piano, and he writes, sings and produces tracks at his home, in Mentone, Victoria, Australia.

There's a fair chance he knows how to build rockets - and I would put an outside bet that he will probably be the first guy to cure cancer - because let's face it - what can't the guy do?

Following the indie success of his debut independant album "Boardface" (2004) which contained hints of the superb in tracks such as Out Here In The Cold, De Backer collated a plethora of op-shop records with a mind-boggling array of musical styles to begin work on "Like Drawing Blood".

The result is one of the most diverse and pleasing musical experiences you are likely to come across. It's not quite rock, it's not quite dance, it's not quite chill, it's not even blues - in fact, trying to define a genre for "Like Drawing Blood" is about as easy as pronouning the name Gotye itself. But it's so rich with sincerity and melody, genre seems almost irrelevant.

The album kicks off with the jaunty dance-cum-ska ditty The Only Way which get the toes tapping just long enough to help you through the moody and melancholly masterpiece Hearts A Mess (a song which would come in handy if you ever needed a succinct and surreal way of explaining the feeling of falling from the sky in slow motion).

Thanks for Your Time shows off De Backer's ability to pen a clever lyric or two, while Learnalilgivinanlovin' is the endlessly sunny cross-over hit that should have been an enormous hit on Nova - it's funk and fun all rolled into one.

There's more than a few Phil Collins moments, an Avalanche's-esque mash up with A Distinctive Sound and more than a few sumblime moments of vocal acrobatics from De Backer (he really does have an astounding voice).

After taking home the Triple J Album of the Year, it's almost a foregone conclusion that Gotye is on the way to becoming the next Independant Label superstar in the same realm as Ben Lee and The John Butler before him - and it's well deserved.

A masterpiece of cool.

For fans of Gotye, be sure to check out his side project, The Basics. They will be launching their latest single Lookin Over My Shoulder (Click here to see the video) with live shows across Australia and at The East Brunswick Club in Melbourne on February 8th, 2007.

RATING: 4 out of 5