Once again he uses an image from a children’s tale, “A Stone In The Road” to help drive his message across. The former is a song about what needs to be done for reconciliation between Australia’s European settlers and her original inhabitants. While all the tracks on this disc are heartfelt and infused with Rudd’s passion, two that stood out most for me were “Gather the Hands” and “Times Like These”. “Walk away from all that you know/ Walk away and hold your own/Walk away and hold your own.” The opening track, “Walk Away”, a plea for people to remember what’s really important in life and to walk away from other stuff, is like his proclamation of independence. The album clearly shows off Rudd’s diversity as both a musician and a songwriter. There’s even a line in the song telling people to remember the “the diggers who gave their lives to the service and the government gain/ so that we could dance together on this beautiful day.” (for those who don’t know “diggers” is Australian slang for an infantry soldier from WWl) The song of that name is about reflecting on the things which we have and how we need to recognize them for the gifts they are. In many ways the choosing of Storm Boy as the title for the album is reflective of Rudd’s state of mind. Its about finding love in unexpected places and friendship in the world around you. Storm Boy is the name of an Australian children’s book that was made into a movie in the late 1970s about a lonely young boy befriending a pelican. But in the song of the same name, “Storm Boy”, their lies a clue in the line “Pelican drifting slowly/looking for a feed/Like Mr. To those of us living outside Australia the album’s title won’t mean much. On the contrary, he writes about what moves him in the world surrounding him – from land rights and reconciliation with the indigenous population of Australia to the simple pleasures of sitting in the sun by a river watching it sparkle on the water. Which doesn’t mean his lyrics are mushy and without thought. Rudd has always been most effective as a songwriter when he sings and write from the heart. However, just because he’s returned to his former style of performance, doesn’t mean he has stayed the same or the album doesn’t reflect changes in both his life and the way he perceives the world around him. It means he’s playing the usual assortment of instruments associated with him harmonica, kick drum, yidakis (didgeridoos), and a variety of guitars ranging from baritone slide to electric. Of course Rudd as a solo artist doesn’t mean he’s sitting at a microphone singing and strumming a guitar. Unlike his previous release, Nanna, which featured a full band, this album sees him returning to the more familiar territory of Rudd as a solo artist accompanied by only a couple of other musicians. Storm Boy, the newest album from Australian musician Xavier Rudd is being released on by the Nettwerk Music Group.
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