Broadcast 2025-01-27

There is so much to say about this song.

I can hear the tambour behind them, only emerging as a solo instrument at the finish – a very folk instrument.

The instruments playing over that beat are light, disciplined and beautiful.

Then there are the voices of Mabel and Ivy, their tonality perfect, their harmony incomparable.

An American reviewer called their work “Chamber Folk” and that’s a wonderful description.

The song is about the ending of a relationship, “making a clean cut.”

“Strangers we’ve made now
The chains we have laid down”

And yet, a memory comes into the second verse of a better, a pacific time.

You can make a clean cut, you can live the future separately after the cut, past memories can contain a different cut.

Charm of Finches are currently touring Australia and New Zealand and will be down our way at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and Trentham’s Cosmopolitan Hotel, on 25 May. 

They will be performing songs from their latest album ‘Marlinchen In The Snow’ as well as exciting new material.

Charm Of Finches - Clean Cut - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-03-17

OK, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, they’ve all been here with songs they talk through, rather than sing.

Lou Reed played guitar while he was waiting for his man, Tom Waits spoke of the demise of Small Change, while a sax wound around his voice.

Cohen, of course, was a poet before he wrote music.

This track is a part of that tradition, a very worthy part at that.

Amelia’s spoken texts, as performed by her, are remarkable. 

On this track she speaks almost dispassionately, precisely paced, and relentlessly descriptive.

Ferry’s music emphasises the mood of Amelia’s first entry, and once it has been spoken, takes us on a journey between that text and Amelia’s following entry.

The music’s tempo syncs with Amelia’s delivery, and it maintains the pace and spirit of the text.

None of that description of these mechanics of the track can bring you close to understanding its effect.

It’s extraordinary, it’s wonderful, and you should play it again, and capture the experience at least once more.


Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barratt - The Florist - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-05-05

This is a classic sound, both in melody and in arrangement.

There’s something hauntingly familiar about the melody, but I think that reflects the nature of the song and how it seems to fit into a 60s, 70s sound.

The arrangement is very straightforward, it sets a tone and stays within that tone without trying too hard by including Baroque flourishes.

Larkings says that this song is about reflection and introspection, and the lyrics capture that and put a definite positive spin on it.

“Every once in a while everybody must smile, on the inside”

The song accepts that there are hurdles, well stiles actually, but there is an end to them.

There’s a caution, “Seeing is believing, but looks can be deceiving, you can miss what’s most revealing, on the inside.”

I see this song as talking to two audiences, one internal, one external.

Internally, it’s saying that there are positives to life, and externally, to not accept the appearance your mates display, there’s more beneath that surface than seems obvious.

A strong and necessary message, very well put.


Michael Larkings - On The Inside - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-06-23

This is a song about entering into a new love, and the conflict between past experiences and the new possibilities.

The music is distinctive.

There’s a light instrumental background at a slow tempo providing a stage for the vocal to express itself.

The vocals are at a faster tempo, with an occasional flick to a double tempo, definitely an attention holding flair.

The mix is balanced, allowing vocals to come through clearly, but there’s also a separation between the pitch of the vocal and the pitch of the instrumental which also contributes to clarity.

We know that this is a new love, and not a first love from the contrasts presented by KayBee.

This is a new experience, never felt like this before

There’s an expression of trepidation, that she’d ‘rather be lonely than have another man disown me.’

There’s vulnerability as well.

Where does she stand? ‘I’m always made to second guess’

The lyrics and the music come together extremely well. I look forward to hearing the EP.


KayBee - When I Feel - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-06-23

An Indie Alt-Folk trio is a bit of a mouthful, a bit of a mindboggling description!

I love the relaxed rhythm to this piece.

Between that and the instrumental over the top of it, it sets a feeling of lightness and relaxation.

The vocal is critical of the modern world, it’s ‘hard to tell who’s on the take, hard to tell who’s sane’

This is hardly a new observation, but it’s none the less valid for that.

Dusken Lights’ alternative is to focus on joy, and that’s really hard to argue with.

The actual means of moving from what is to what should be is an ancient and unresolved question, but let’s put that to the side for now.

The use of the black cockatoo as an image is interesting.

The black cockatoo symbolises inner strength and resilience, confidently facing obstacles, transformation and change, and communication and the importance of staying connected with others.

It’s hard to believe that its presence in the song is serendipitous.

This is a very easy song to listen to, with an unanswerable lyric.


Dusken Lights - Making Way For Joy - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-06-30

One of the perennial subjects for ballads has to be those who get their living on the sea and the disasters which can befall them.

You can find old broadsheet ballads such as “Three Score and Ten” and more modern songs as Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

We don’t need to look to far for this experience. Bass Strait has taken down more boats than the Bermuda Triangle, but probably for more straightforward reasons.

This is the Acoustimen’s take on the subject.

It starts with the image of the trawlerman’s wife on the breakwater looking to sea.

Then the letter that nobody wants.

“Don’t give up sister.” A family relationship or solidarity from the community?

The music has a plaintive expression, the one certainty is that this is final.

This is a very polished performance and a great song.


The Acoustimen - The Trawlerman's Widow - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-06-30

This has a very professional and well produced instrumental, but Kaytlyn is a singer songwriter, so let’s get to that.

The first lines of this song make such an impact “Something great happened to me today, and I couldn’t wait to tell you about it, but do you care, I doubt it.”

A nice bright introduction just threw you into a brick wall.

Straight away we know that despite the lightness of the tune, this is about a fracture in a relationship.

A relationship with a person who said they would “Follow me wherever I’d be.”

The doubt of the state of the relationship, “the colour of your cheeks, was it sunburn or was it me?”

The ultimate betrayal of the mobile phone era, “Leave a message at the beep.”

This is a song which has a polished tune, and a powerful lyric. 

Kaytlyn is a singer / songwriter to keep your eye on.



Kaytlyn Johnson - Sunburn - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-06-30

This is a song every parent needs to hear, the universal feelings of watching your children grow and develop their own lives, loves and interests.

I don’t know if that was the intent, but it sure spoke to me.

Just an aside, I love the title “In Time With You” and that the song is not in 4/4 time, a nice little musical in joke.

The music itself is one of those deceptive light tunes, which allow the lyrics to take pride of place, because they are well worth listening to.

The notes describe Estelle and her music as dreamy, and it’s hard to argue with that.

This is a lovely lyric, I can identify with just about everything she sings about.

I can’t think of another song which looks at this stage of life in this way.

It is a strange feeling watching your children make their way in the world, for better or worse.

You hope for better, and I’ve been lucky in that.

I’m very impressed with this song, I want to hear more from Estelle.


Estelle Conley - In Time With You - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-07

The notes to this track promise it’s unlike anything you've heard before.

And that’s very true.

You see the description blues-rock, and it sets certain expectations.

Add in psychedelic, and things shift, but I grew up in the era of Jefferson Airplane and the like therefore the style of this track should have been familiar, but it’s not.

It does more than deliver this, but it has its own take on what it is doing.

It’s rhythmic, but not rock. It’s plaintive, but not blues. The lyrics pull it back together.

The instrumental provide a cradle for the melody, but it’s a fluid cradle that can shift as the melody demands.

The crack of the digeridoo as it enters is stunning.

The lyrics are poetic, and describe the ambivalence of being torn between your roots and the life you are making for yourself.

I used to spend all my time tryna leave back then.
Now it takes all my strength to muster up the courage to leave again.

Can you stay? Can you go?

How can I fight when I’m running away
How can I run with twisted feet?

There’s universal themes in this song, but there is nothing universal about the story, it’s personal, and relatable. 


Lemonise - Golden - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-07

It is so good to hear some material from Nigel Wearne.

He used to come down this way quite often.

I have some of his CDs and you’ll hear them on Tempo.

His music and his playing are stellar.

The light guitar introduction sets the scene for ballad.

The guitar swells and recedes, as the song demands, fluid, making its own way through the song.

The crispness and clarity of the vocal is another trademark of Nigel’s.

His use of words is wonderful, phrases such as “I search the illicit hours.”

The language works in so well with the music.

This is excellent material, and a stunning performance. 

I hope this acoustic version appears on an album. It deserves to.


Nigel Wearne - Eventide - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-07

Does that sound a bit off kilter to you?

It’s probably because it’s set in a 7/8 time signature, which makes it a driving, disorienting journey that mirrors the unpredictable trajectory of the space race itself.

We have a layered arrangement of analog synths, soaring guitar textures, and locked-in rhythm work giving the song an urgency—fitting for a narrative rooted in competition, dominance, and destiny.

It’s tempting to dismiss the lyrics in this as pure stream of consciousness with no real story.

In one sense much of comes from phrases and images we have already experienced in the space race.

“The seeds of life planted in the tranquil ocean.”
“We come in peace for all mankind.”

This track deserves success just for its sheer quirkiness.

I’ve been listening to it for a while, and just noticed the odd key change subtly slotted in there.

It’s a very clever track, it’s got me completely drawn in. 

The coming CD has 10 tracks, I really hope they are this good as well.

It will be released later this month via Bandcamp.


Ambient Den - For All Mankind - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-07

I don’t think there is anything which makes an Australian stop and listen like a bushfire song.

If you have been there it stays with you always.

Certainly I’ll never forget being an eleven-year-old sitting on a rock in the Derwent River while the fires of Black Tuesday came within 100 metres of me and the other students at Taroona High.

Years later bushwalking with my mate Joseph when we smelled burning eucalypt, and just looked at each other.

This new song from Ruth Hazleton on a bushfire experience definitely made me stop and listen.

The song conjures images of an early bush cottage, crosscut wood panels, walls papered by magazines, worn and smoothed by experiencing generations of families.

“Once a winding track now the Princes Highway”

“These walls have greeted fire before”

Then the reality hits.

The ash, cinders never mind the actual flames.

“I packed so carelessly, I thought I’d be back”

“I dream of fire and then I wake”

This song is going to be around for quite a time.



Ruth Hazleton - Letter From A Friend - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-14

The opening vocal style had me thinking of Tracey Chapman. The melody and the quick rhythmic flicks.

The instrumental, for me, conjured up a feeling of moving and the inevitability of that motion.

It’s lush, polished and provides a supportive backing.

The musical style made me think of Karen Carpenter, and I wondered what this would sound like if it was stripped back to just a drum and piano duet.

The lyrics seemed to use vivid metaphors. Always with lyrics that roll effortlessly.

“Let life just take you like a melody”
“Watching the moon roll into the sun again.”

It’s really clever.


JC and the Tree - Made To Roam - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-14

This has a classic folksong sound, with that finger-picking on the bouzouki to distinguish it from a plain acoustic ballad.

The instrumentals a light and lovely and precisely played.

They have to be, there’s no where to hide in this musical form.

The vocal leads and harmonies work well together and with the instrumental.

The song is not so much about an achievement or a world shaking event, but about a yet to be formed plan.

It’s a simple plan, going back to a place that was special.

Leslie Hartley wrote , “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”

The futility of returning to places you lived in the past, only to find that it’s all changed, you might be there, but the past is not.

Sometimes it’s better to have the memories, and not experience the inevitable disappointment.


The Go Twos - Kurrawarra - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-21

There is a very clever beginning to this song.

A single guitar becomes a guitar and voice. Then a choir is added, followed by the full voice of the instruments.

The effect on me was to trap my attention, to make me listen, and then to receive the full effect of the song.

It ends by the instrumental receding to a single guitar plus the choir, reliving the beginning of the song, but in a more firm manner.

The song itself is performed excellently, the choir is precise, both in timing and harmonies.

Our rivers have certainly been mismanaged since colonisation.

Biological studies confirm that.

Even the colonial histories and social memory establish it.

The First Nations people are quite correct.

Sadly, the education I was given did not cover any of Australia’s first languages.

I am reduced to being illiterate.

Leroy Johnson and The Waterbag Band - Nhaampa Puka - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-21

The sound in this song is almost in three discrete parts – the vocal, a smooth guitar behind that, and then, softly, a distorted guitar even further behind, which adds that noir-rock that they are expressing.

Without that noir guitar, the effect would be quite different.

It’s not unusual for a song to concentrate on loss and the effects of loss, but this song takes that a step further.

There doesn’t seem to be any room for metaphor in the song.

They said you lost your brain, lost your mind, lost your head, lost your skin.

But the singer rejects that last claim, not my skin.

It seems to me that the noir guitar is the singer and their dissonance, their rejection.

If the other material on the album can match this, it will be well worth tracking down.

Bleak Squad will be touring in October, with two warm-up gigs set for regional Victoria in August and will be a Queenscliff Town Hall on the first of October.

Tickets are on sale now.


Bleak Squad - Lost My Head - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-21

The first thought I had was that this was an exercise in some kind of free form jazz.

Certainly, jazz is one of the genres they claim as an influence.

The drums, bass and the vocals are the only stable elements of the song.

They set the beat and the key, and set the lyrics for the other instruments to react to within that framework.

They do not shy away from discord, both in the vocals and the instrumentals.

The vocals are much more fluid in these transitions.

The instruments arrive with a certain tone and rhythm, and stick to it, with the next instrumental entry feeling free to ignore what went before.

It’s challenging to listen to, but worth the effort. 


On Diamond - Letting The Wheel Go By - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-07-28

This is a very clever song. 

It piggybacks on to the Dry July alcohol free campaign to raise money for supporting people affected by cancer.

It seeks to remind us that there are people for whom Dry July means something beyond giving up drinking for a month.

As you can guess from the instrumentals, this is about the issues in rural Australia, where a dry July means something completely different.

It’s about the bleak reality of facing first hand the impact of drought on rural Australians.

It’s a perspective that only seems to get more than a headline when you watch Landline on the ABC.

Songs about the effect of drought have been a staple of the Australian folk scene, for example, Eric Bogle’s “Now I’m Easy” which emphasises that split between the city and the country.

“there’s no drought or starving stock on a sewered suburban block”

Big Delicious takes that to the next level, 

“I hope I see you next Dry July.”

Because, there’s no guarantee, is there? When there’s no rain, there’s no crops, no pasture, no stock.

Every time you see those headlines, remember there are people who see no future, for their farm, their family or themselves.



Big Delicious - Dry July - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-03

This is a good song, but with a couple of major issues.

The topic, the words, and the melody are beautiful, and they come together well.

Just when you wonder how the common theme of a relationship ending could be renewed, this song does it.

Byrd of Paradyse’s voice is wonderful, strong when it needs to be ethereal when that is called for.

But then we get to the issue of the instrumental lines and production.

The instrumental line is lush and well put together, but then we get to the production.

This is a song, it has a message, and Byrd of Paradyse is often swamped by the instrumental line.

By all means, be interesting, be experimental, but don’t lose sight of the goal.

This is a song, first, last and always.

Byrd of Paradyse is supporting Lil Mase on a national tour, so maybe we’ll get a chance to hear her live.




Byrd of Paradyse - Just For Tonight - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-03

This definitely fun and fierce, and gets the toes tapping.

I think we live our whole life thinking about our age and whether we fit, what other’s expectations are, and never being completely satisfied with the answers.

Certainly that has sat with me most of my life.

I don’t think I have ever heard that issue treated in such an upbeat way.

The lyrics are clever, as they have to be in this form of song.

Maxon’s vocals come clearly over the instrumentals and deliver and enhance the light-heartedness.

The one thing that is timeless though is the musical style.

It may evolve in different ways, be enhanced as new techniques become possible, but it’s at the core.

This song brings it all together, and brings it off brilliantly.


Maxon - 18 - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-11

In this track Mia is showing, yet again, another side to her voice.

This is a light, almost ethereal voice taking us yet again on her musical journey.

Even so, her voice is well balanced against the instrumental background.

That background is light, but tight and supportive of the vocal line.

That light voice is not delivering a lightweight message though.

This is a polemic, but it’s also an invitation.

“No borders, no walls, just life – embrace all the light, it’s what we have to do, it’s what we are offering”

No one deserves to die from power and greed

Freedom, justice, love

This song is beautiful. The lyrics have a message you can’t argue with. 


Mia Lovelock - World Without Walls - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-18

This is a lovely, stripped back instrumental. What is needed and nothing more.

There is an infrequent vocal harmony backing Niksta, but, as with the instrumental line, they are the two hands which lift the vocal up so it can be heard.

Her notes describe her as having a “a quiet yet powerful presence” and this song shows that very precisely.

This song entices, it draws you in. The topic is the universal one, “searching for love.”

There’s a degree of imperative to this because “love takes time to grow.”

Is this the riskiest thing in a life? 

The singer feels stuck in this box, they have to assert I am worthy.

But with all of this she will keep searching for love in you.

Such deep words for a light melody. Extremely clever writing.


Niksta - Searching - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-18

This is a beautiful song about a terrible place to be, one we all dread.

What do you do when you find a friend that’s so far gone they can’t get back on their own? Not “you” in that general sense, it’s you, the involved, on the spot, now responsible person.

How on earth do you put that into a listenable song?

Canisha shows how, and it’s amazing and amazingly effective.

The song starts slowly, with a simple voice and piano introduction.

We hear some backing vocals.

Some more instruments, some bass, some drums, but the temptation to take it hard is resisted.

It’s not an anthem, it’s not about the world, it remains understated, it remains about you.

It’s not letting you drift off into the melody, there’s the occasional flattened note, an accidental, to keep you focused on the message.

The lyrics are delivered unusually evenly, is this the first time it’s happened?

The lyrics are simple, no flamboyant effects, and they are more powerful for that.

You said you were OK – it don’t feel alright

Not going to be the day you go down the drain
I will fight for you
I’m here to save you from yourself

This is a powerful song, with a haunting and powerful delivery.

It’s brilliant on every level.


Canisha - Save You From Yourself - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-18

This is a wonderfully clear and clean musical style. It’s not pretentious, but it’s not plain either.

That is a really difficult thing to achieve.

The less you have, the greater the demands to get a viable and vibrant musical outcome.

Run this back and have another listen. You can hear each instrument clearly, they are distinct and at the same time come together with that rare musical synergy.

That really is an achievement.

It’s interesting that this is a song about being in a place you left, and reminiscing, but it’s not about yearning. 

There is no such feeling coming through. It’s describing and appreciating that life, stating where you came from.

I love the line “But “Running On Empty” already been done.”

That was also a song looking back at life.

Very clever and very listenable.


Nathan May - Darwin Son - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-25

This song demonstrates exactly why being hemmed in by genre categories is so limiting.

I know people who would run screaming at the suggestion of a Hip Hop track, they don’t know what they’re missing.

So here’s what they are missing …

First up some very interesting and well played and produced music.

I admit I was surprised by the song opening with such a reggae beat, with a tuneful melody sung across that.

Stinga T’s verse is tight to that rhythm, with the occasional drag across two beats, but never losing sight of the rhythm.

The lyrics are cleverly written, using some well-chosen assonances to tie the rhyme to the rhythm.

The message in the song is direct, it’s about Australia, the things we can all value, and what yet needs to be done.

Australia beating the poms pure satisfaction
Spring into action come together don't forget the past
Let’s forgive close the gap brand new start

If that’s going to happen then there is a whole new attitude needed.

I’m from Australia down under that’s the land we claim
We them First Nations people that still remains
So if you don't understand well then you need to listen
You need to take in the answer and stop asking questions

This is an important message, packaged into great music. 


Tha Deadly Boyz - From The Island - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-08-25

Is there any one of us who can’t think of an incident that we really regret, and probably regretted it as it happened?

… and the rest of you are looking away.

In a review, I usually focus on the instrumentation and melody, and then bring it together , but I don’t think you can with this – it’s a package.

This is such a well written piece, and the music supports it, and the lyrics give meaning to the music, it all just comes together.

Emily has a wonderfully strong voice, she covers the whole range with apparent ease.

The production of this song has placed the voice exactly where it should be, not dominating, but sufficiently in front of the instrumental to be clear and understandable.

The message is instantly recognisable, and hits hard.


Emily Pritchard - Sorry Sam - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-01

What a track! I don’t want to review it, I just want to listen to it again!

This was produced by Syd Green, well known for his work with Casey Chambers and 19Twenty.

He’s really done justice to this track.

The sound is sparse, but majestic.

Acoustic and resonator guitar, with drums giving their best and the resonator, as only resonators can be.

It’s fantastic.

The story told by the song is tragic and enigmatic, ending with a feeling of loss.

The song is all about roots and relationships, indivisible and fundamental.

The question “What are you now to me?”

We know this is about a woman returning to country, feeling that she sees it as it was, but something has changed.

“Layers of memories floating round”

She sings, “It is my greatest fear that I lose the sense to see all you gave to me.”

Her cry is for them to “Heal the sense to see, all you gave to me.”

But she continues, “What would they say, if we had the time, just for a day, would they turn and sigh, disappointment in their eyes, shake their heads and cry, how would I be?”

Finishing with a terribly bleak question “did I ever belong here?”




Stiff Gins - Roots - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-01

Capaldi’s version of this was a piano plus vocal, the vocal contributed all the emotion, rather than instrumental swells and chords.

The instrumental in this re-interpretation is more complex.

During the verses, it is minimal, perhaps even less than Capaldi’s piano, and only steps up when the chorus comes.

This instrumental emphasis substitutes for Capaldi’s rougher chorus vocal.

In all the feel of the song is familiar, without it being a cover. A different approach keeps the feel of the original very effectively.

Enough of the comparisons …

The strength of this version is the instrumental. There’s what is almost a simple harmony, just a single tone where the chord changes would be.

This provides a subtle but strong level of support to the vocal, without ever intruding. It works exceptionally well.

The entry of a fuller instrumental adds a melodic harmonising to the chorus.

A complex simplicity that works because it is not a constant.

This is a new song, a re-interpretation, not a cover.


Benny Elder - Someone You Love - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-01

It’s a long time ago, but I think I actually hear a seventies sound to this. It would have been a pretty avant guard seventies sound, buy nevertheless, that lead guitar pretty much solo throughout the song is, for me, evocative.

Songs back then tended to be assertive, and most were without any analysis or polemics.

That’s not the case here, it’s heart on a sleeve time!

Mind you, I love the grouping of philosophers chosen – Proudhon the anarchist, Nietzsche beloved of authoritarians, and Socrates, the ethicist.

A philosophy joke?

One of the central lyrics really speaks to me – “I believe that music unites us, I believe religion divides us.”

Music, in all it’s forms and manifestations definitely unites us. 

Play on!


Girl Monstar - Blue Cat Green Eyes - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-08

This track has that lovely classic growling blues feel to it. 

Is that guitar Jeff or Allison? Does it matter, the combination is what’s being heard here, and that’s a whole different level.

There’s a solid immutable guitar beat from one end to the other, and everything hangs from that.

That solid theme continues through the break, initially unadorned, but then we have individual guitar melodies in the left or right channel.

Each of those guitars seem to be playing with each other, swapping the lead, a debate if you will.

Their vocal harmony has that polish of musicians who have a long history of performing together and each knowing where the other would go. Of course there’s a raft of experimentation and practice behind making it sound so elegant.

The song itself is on a traditional topic, hard grinding work.

The singer says they are “Alone in my work and my worries.” 

They’re “heavy in my living hell” and it “burns like no other.”

They’re getting support by leaning on their sugar, but there’s a kick at the end, “for my love is for another!”

This elegant and clever music is why I’ll always welcome a new track from them individually, or even better, together.


High Ace - Leaning On My Sugar - Tempo Review

2025-09-08

It might be 40 years or more later since the original release but there is no mistake about this being a reinterpretation of Chaka Khan’s work. 

The beat is much slower, the whole song is more relaxed, no doubt the source of the “post coital” comment by Batchelor.

This reworking has taken it somewhere else, a hint of reggae maybe?

It almost feels like the instrumental was developed from scratch, using only the original lyrics.

If you are working with an existing song which you admire, then this is the way to do it.

It’s fresh, it’s imaginative.

Given the 40 year gap, a new generation might see this as the definitive version.

This is excellent work, I’ll be keeping my eye out for more from Johnny Batchelor.


Johnny Batchelor - Ain't Nobody - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-08

Wow!

I read the release notes for this, and it mentioned Jungaji singing with his son Dean Brady, credits for guitar, bass, keys, drums and so on and so forth.

What I did not expect was the amazing production which has gone into this song.

It’s really easy to push production too far, but this is superb. 

It’s a classically strong backing, I almost felt that I was in the middle of an operatic aria.

It has a strong presence with a massive impact.

The strength of this song matches the interpretation of kalkurr meaning the Milky Way with all its vastness.

The song says, and I apologise in advance for my pronunciation

Junjulkurr bordigular
Yinya gurrindah nyigu

There’s a big change
And it’s coming now

This song is a part of that change.


Jungaji - Kalkurr - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-08

Finger picking guitar, chrome sandwich, mandolin, and a strings section.

You could pitch that as a country band, but it’s not.

There’s hints maybe, but the essence of this song is the sound of the 1970s folk era.

I can definitely hear Bert Jansch.

The guitar is fast and accurate, the mouthorgan provides a melodic addition along with the violin. 

All in all this is a clearly expressed and well performed piece.

This song amounts to a protest against the Protestant work ethic. That won’t get any complaints from me.

They lyrics are clever and well structured and come through clearly, a well produced track.

The theme is a classic one in the Australian ethos – drop it all and hit the road outback. 

C J Dennis gave an alternate view of the benefits in his poem “The Swagman” contrasting the exuberance of a young boy with the resignation of an old swagman.

Which one is right? This song is a contribution to that debate.



Pete Hawkes - I've Changed My Mind - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-15

This track is wonderfully produced, self-producing is high risk, but this shows clear expertise.

The balance between the instrumental backing, the lead vocal, and the ghostly harmonies and counterpoints is perfect.

All this has created a track which is tuneful, and where the vocal is clear, as it must be in a song whose role is to deliver a message.

The message is quite a contradiction to the light sound of the song.

It’s a post-breakup song, a reflection on how things will linger, even after the breakup.

This is the “poison and wine.”

I wish you have a life I never hear about.
I wish people ask you how I am.
My room’s empty, and I hope yours is haunted.

It’s clear that this is not said so much in anger, but in pain.

“Poison and wine” is great as a metaphor, but not as a lifestyle.


Seetali - Poison and Wine - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-15

This has that 1960s insistent sound, jangling guitars, out front drumbeats and heavy cymbals.

This is not plain strumming behind a vocal though, this has a melodic instrumental, a good guitar lead and virtuoso drumming.

There’s a very clever use of rhythmic breaks and disruptions to the central pattern of the tune.

It’s great having a drum break as well as a guitar break. That’s clever.

The production is also clever. The general feel is of a wall of sound, but the vocal is nicely above that and can be heard, but has multiple overlays, which preserves that solid sound, rather than contrasting.

The song itself is a tale of an unexpected breakup.

What you’re trying to say is that I’m not the one.
So what you’re trying to say is that we’re done.

This meets all of its targets. The sound has that 1960s feel, the melody, instrumentation and lyrics come together extremely well.

It’s not hard to see why fans are wanting a live experience.


The Gnomes - I'm Not The One - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-15

Before anything else in this song, I noticed the rhythm – it bounces, it’s jogging, just the thing for a pleasant ride.

The vocal is everything we expect from Tiff, strong over her range, but with a trademark lightness of spirit. It’s clear and unambiguous.

Her detailed observation and storytelling, its subject is something that generates an inner peace and complete relaxation.

Something that we all need and seek. For me, a book with music in the background. I hope you have found what works for you.

The instrumental is light and supportive, providing a harmony, not a competing melody. It’s simple, guitar and mandolin, but with a light break for the mandolin.

The production clearly emphasises Tiff’s vocal, as it should.

It’s a wonderful, evocative piece. Not a saga, but capturing an important place in her life.


Tiffany Eckhardt - Horse - Tempo Review

Broadcast 2025-09-15

The eternal conundrum of listening to identical twins … is only one taking the lead vocal, or are they swapping? How would I know? Does it matter?

Of course it doesn’t matter, but then I’m always curious.

Anyhow, back to the topic of Alanna and Alicia.

In a lot of ways this is very different to the previous track of theirs that we heard – Teetotal Lover. There is, however, a similarity in production, a full featured background instrumental, but one which is very much a background, and never intruding or competing for dominance over the vocals.

The vocals in this piece are light, moderately paced, and clear as a bell.

Here we have a relationship starting.

The first time we talked well past closing and got kicked out by the staff.

So many firsts in this song, there’s confidence, but they ask, “how do you make a first last.”

Regardless, this is an optimistic piece, with a chorus line I love.

If you press your ear on my chest to the left
You will surely hear the orchestra playing forte on my heartstrings
Life is a song, heart song listen

Truly beautiful.


Alanna & Alicia - Heart Song Listen - Tempo Review

Weekly uploads of reviews and interviews from the program, "Tempo". "Tempo" is a weekly radio program presented by John Lamp, highlighting a wide range of music and music reviews on 94.7 the Pulse in Geelong, Wadawurrung country. John has been involved in community radio since 1976, initially with a music program "Parcel of Rogues" on 7CAE-FM in Hobart, Tasmania. After moving to Geelong, he joined 94.7 the Pulse on the program "Folks Alive", which morphed into "~meanderings~." John then spent a decade on the station Boards of Management before returning to the air in 2022 with his new program "Tempo." Full programs can be accessed at the link below.

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