A couple of months ago I attended a concert where this young, unassuming Australian played support. I was impressed enough to ask for a CD to review and this is it. It’s somewhere between an EP and LP in its 26 minute/7 track length, and is more than enough to confirm that Pyke is one of the most interesting new singer/songwriters around at the moment.

The opening song, ‘Beg Your Pardon’ bears more than a passing resemblance to the late, great Elliott Smith, in both vocal and song writing terms. It’s a gentle, swaying song with glorious acoustic guitar passages and vocal harmonies. Private Education goes upbeat, repeats the Elliott Smith treatment and is also a vibrant, melodic beauty. Fill You In is my difficult-to-choose highlight with its highly original construct and moving, expressive tone. Goldmines possesses a strong rhythm and provides Pyke with the opportunity to fully showcase his tremendous vocal, song writing and guitar-playing talent. The lyrics are beautiful: “Dark night, it’s a dark night/And you can feel it, out with the big cats/And there’s a jaw trap, and there’s a razor net/And it’s a dark night, so paint your necks red, so we can see you/Vastness, there’s a vastness, and it looks empty, but it’s really full to the brim.” Middle Of The Hill is a lighter song that rushes along at breakneck speed with deep guitar chord rhythm under the superb vocal performance and harmonies. It’s different and is the sort of song that could generate airplay. Staring Into The Sun offers a broader sonic landscape, including strings, in what is a really lovely country-tinged ballad. Hell this one has to be my favourite – you see each of these songs is so bloody good it is futile to try to pick a personal winner. I’m left thinking that if this was a full length album it would feature strongly in our top albums of the year. This is available from Amazon and I urge you to spend a few quid for 26 minutes of pure musical delight. Essential.

4.5/5