Creature Of Habit / Carus Thompson
REVIEWS / EXTRA INFO
Source: MP Anyone who has seen his acoustic shows will have been waiting for him to make this album. The irony is that this �little� album is the most satisfying, because it relies on the most important thing a singer songwriter can rely on: songs - and on Creature of Habit Carus has delivered his best collection yet. Catch Carus as he launches Creature of Habit around the country accompanied by Greg Arnold on guitars, pianos and ukelele, with Andrew Darling on trumpet. |
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Source: Rave Magazine (Independent/MGM) A finely wrought and sublimely presented slice of Aussie folk rock from the frontman of WA�s Carus and the True Believers. If I were to proffer two words to encapsulate the qualities that make Carus Thompson�s Creature of Habit so terribly appealing, they would have to be �restraint� and �balance�. The diverse range of additional instrumentation in several songs, from strings to keys to drums and even glockenspiel, never overwhelms and always complements Thompson�s fine vocal performance and gorgeous acoustic guitar playing, which are always the complete focus, whether accompanied or not. While the debt here to Australian balladeer Paul Kelly is obvious, Thompson�s rough edged, charismatic vocal delivery and almost cinematic sense of drama in both composition and rhythm technique as much brings to mind US working class rockers Bruce Springsteen or � dare I say it � John Mellencamp, without ever sounding even a touch Americanised or overblown. Thompson�s lyrics are excellent and heartfelt, with a notably strong sense of place providing a strong grounding for a diverse range of tales of life, society and relationships told through the narrative voices of a sizeable catalogue of characters. I Found Love perhaps the highlight, taking what could have been an overly sentimental true tale of a prisoner marrying a jailhouse teacher and turning it into a truly affecting parable of love as redemption. It all meshes together harmoniously into a fine release from an impressive Australian talent. **** SHAUN NANCARROW http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/14245/180/ |
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