Review By Aiden Stingemore

Drawing unashamedly from a slew of acoustic artists like: The Whitlams, Ben Lee and Alex Lloyd, comes TIMOTHY NELSON & THE INFIDELS release, ‘I Know This Now’. Filled with 12 honest tracks, clean lines and frank minimalism this album is punctuated with a noticeable country aesthetic. Admittedly, this is an idea that has been done to death, but Timothy and Co. manage such a genial and crisp sound with such straight forward song-writing and relatable lyrics, that its consistency doesn’t seem stale or uninspired.

‘You Don’t Know What You’re Waiting For’ eases the listener into a comfortable lull with a plodding piano line and delicate strumming over the well-seasoned sound of Timothy’s voice, crooning about teenage dilemmas, friend zones and regrets. There’s something refreshing about his lyricism. It’s authentic and uncluttered. He doesn’t indulge in the frankly pretentious trend of late towards post-modern metaphor and cryptic ideas and thus eliminate what was fun about this genre – a good old-fashioned sing-along. Propped by what seems to be a string quartet and cheesy backing vocals, ‘Speak The Truth In Love’ is a candid number reflecting on another close encounter of the feminine kind. Sleeping Alone pays homage to the jangly poise of The Eagles with a good pinch of Willie Nelson for effect, owing to a string of comfortable rhythmic patterns and rather tasteful bottleneck abuse. This is very much an album of influence and inspiration, but with adequate flavour from Mr Nelson to keep it from plagiarism. The album’s middle section welcomes a slightly more upbeat feel, from the warm slides and country-esque phrasings of ‘Nothing’s In Tune’ to ‘Overcast Day’ – a wash of minor chords and cheery harmonicas over clever lines like; “if I could see through your newspaper curtains and into your eyes without you shutting me out”. It’s a nice contrast from the pace of previous tracks.

Though the formula is quite similar and the endpoint just a little tiresome, this is the kind of music that harks back to the musical days of old, when excess wasn’t apparent and it was all about the song-writing. Strong song-writing is something that is well and truly pushing up daisies but it’s ‘hot meal on a cold day’ efforts like this that fill me with a little hope.

Expect more from this man.