Album Review: Child, Soul Murder
Child are all-in on heavy blues. It’s been seven years since the release of their second album, 2016’s Blueside (review here), nine since they issued their 2014 self-titled debut (discussed here) and five even since their 2018 I EP (review here), but somehow when the Melbourne trio led by guitarist/vocalist Mathias Northway lock into the sweet flowing fuzz boogie of “Free and Humble” — also released as a single in 2020 — as the first of seven songs dug into classic heavy vibes, organic performance-capture and soul, time seems to matter much, much less. Soul Murder is a severe title — it was originally Soul Merda, which they were correct in changing — and to coincide with the once-again-stunning Nick Keller oil-on-canvas cover art playing off ‘The Creation of Adam,’ the returning lineup of Northway, bassist Danny Smith and drummer Michael Lowe push everything further in their sound.
The blues is bluer. The rock is heavier. The done-me-wrong woes wrought through the lyrics and the tales there of lessons hard-learned feel sincere in the telling, and the entire feel of Soul Murder is one of accomplishment front to back, having built on the first two albums (less the EP, but that too if you want) and continued their progression to a critical stage in the life cycle of the band; a third album realization of who they are, marked by songs that carry across emotion and heft regardless of volume, feeling purposeful even as they ‘keep it loose’ in terms of flow and use open space to emphasize a live feel in songs like “Standing on My Tail” — dig that bass after the three-minute mark — and “Soul Murder” itself, where the guitar takes a break for most of the verses early on and sets up a move into a going-way-out heavy jam stretched across the bulk of its five minutes, Northway vibrato’ing out sorrows as the band taps Sabbath-rooted nod not for the first or last time with before shifting into a feedback-layer-inclusive solo-section.
In comparison to Blueside, some of Soul Murder is more stark in its trades, not so much with “Free and Humble,” which shimmies a middle line of blues rock comfortably and with a rhythmic sleekness that’s a credit to Smith and Lowe even if so much of the record from that point on is highlighted by Northway‘s mastery on guitar and vocals, be it the soft noodling after the crash-in intro to “Trouble with a Capital ‘T'” and the improvised-sounding final moments of centerpiece “Feels Like Hell” or the especially Hendrixian blues lines he brings to “Standing on My Tail,” his can-sing delivery shifting slightly to follow-suit.
Dropping hints along the way of fine detailing like the distant echoes of “by now” at two minutes into “Free and Humble” or some handclaps worked in with Lowe‘s mellow-swinging snare in that same chorus and again later, even just the tones of the guitar, bass and drums as recorded — in 2018, at least in part — by Nao Anzai at Head Gap Studios, who also mixed and mastered, Soul Murder presents a multi-tiered experience, with dynamic and reach enough to warrant and reward close listens and an overarching groove on its face.
There’s progression in the patience of their delivery as well, holding together “Trouble with a Capital ‘T'” no less than Smith‘s bassline, as Child make it clear early on they’re going to take their time and that’s alright. Second behind “Free and Humble,” “Trouble with a Capital ‘T'” is expansive and purposefully placed as the first of three included longer songs, with the other two being the closing salvo of “Moment in Time” and “Coming up Trumps,” all over six minutes. Unlike their first two LPs, Child don’t touch the 10-minute mark on Soul Murder, and on average the individual cuts are shorter, but the band are deceptively efficient, seeming to bring each song to life from the silence at its start, leaving a trail of memorable riffs and leads behind them in “Standing on My Tail,” the funk-as-stoner midsection of “Soul Murder,” etc. en route to “Moment in Time,” which makes a point of its minimalism initially as if to leave room for the vibrant fuzz and weeping feedback that soon enough fills it, and “Coming up Trumps,” which at 8:13 is by no means the longest song the three-piece have ever done but is an epic just the same recalling “Dazed and Confused” in its affect and, in its heaviest stretches, lumber that feels born of the intro to “War Pigs.”
Structurally, most of Soul Murder works on builds, and by the time “Standing on My Tail” starts with its unrepentant lean into R&B crossover, Child make it clear where they’re headed, but the paths they take are varied and satisfying. And more over, fluid. That is to say, while there are definite points at which a pedal is clicked on and the distortion swells — “Moment in Time” at 3:22 and “Soul Murder” at 1:39 come to mind — the material isn’t necessarily relying on its impending ‘heavy part’ as a payoff, or limited either in speaking to one side or the other in their sound. This ultimately makes Soul Murder a more immersive listen and more complete-feeling album in fostering that aforementioned overarching groove as something that persists regardless of how loud a given stretch might be.
Perhaps stripping down some of the more psychedelic and jammier aspects of their style has let Child flourish in craft while not leaving a spontaneous/on-stage spirit behind, which would seem at least in listening to be the best of both worlds, hints of ethereality in some of the instrumental passages doing nothing to pull away from the emotive impact of Northway‘s vocals. Those are every bit worthy of the showcase they’re given in “Trouble with a Capital ‘T'” and “Standing on My Tail” on side A and provide a grounding effect as “Moment in Time” and “Coming up Trumps” shift more into jams, the former capping with amp hum and residual feedback and cymbal taps as if in direct precursor to the outright doom in the apex of the subsequent finale, which ends Soul Murder with an actually-satisfying big-rock finish, pulled out and held, twisted around and hinting that they’re going to drop back into the heavier roll just before the last wash enters its fade; damn near perfect. They make you believe it.
And that’s true of the record as a whole as well. I don’t know and won’t speculate on anyone’s life situation, but the blues on Soul Murder feels real in terms of channeling personal turmoil into accessible songwriting, and Northway‘s emergence as a frontman — which has been a plot thread for Child‘s work to this point — is a settled issue. There are parts where the songs seem to recede specifically so he can carry them — 30 seconds into the title-track, for example — and he does without fail each time, backed in the spirit of ’70s heavy by Smith and Lowe as the essential foundation of the power trio.
As much as one wonders what might cause Soul Murder to have been so long in arriving after being recorded half a decade ago, the results of the album are enough to just make one glad it arrived at all. I won’t try to predict their future either or delve into hyperbole of Child among the forefront of Australia’s ultra-packed and diverse heavy underground, but whatever comes of it after the fact, Soul Murder is a significant achievement on their part in living up to and surpassing the high standard set by their first two full-lengths. It is multifaceted in its growth, expressive, and genuine. Again, they are a band to make you believe, and one expects their testimony to win converts accordingly.
Great review JJ, agree with a lot of the sentiments here. Very hard to capture authenticity that commands your attention, but Child give it out in spades. Early AOTY for me at least.
As always, thanks for the immense effort behind the Obelisk. Always a daily presence on my side, and continues to be the best source for new music online.