ARTIST: The Go-Betweens
TITLE: Oceans Apart
LABEL: Yep Roc
GENRE: Rock
TIME: 65:11 min
SIZE: 103,1 MB
RIP DATE: Jun-18-2005
RELEASE DATE: May-17-2005
WEBSITE: n/a

Track List:

    Cd1

01. Here Comes A City                          03:25
02. Finding You                                04:02
03. Born To A Family                           03:08
04. No Reason To Cry                           03:54
05. Boundary Rider                             02:45
06. Darlinghurst Nights                        06:18
07. Lavender                                   03:10
08. The Statue                                 04:25
09. This Night's For You                       04:25
10. The Mountains Near Dellray                 03:28

    Cd2

01. People Say                                 03:31
02. He Lives My Life                           04:04
03. The Wrong Road                             05:18
04. Bye Bye Pride                              04:55
05. When People Are Dead                       04:46
06. Streets Of Your Town                       03:37

Release Notes:

It's been three months since the advance (which was
kind of static-y) and the retail was nuked for
coming too soon, so here we are with the proper,
2-cd retail version of this great album.

AMG Review:

Though it's been two years since Bright Yellow
Bright Orange, Oceans Apart is further proof that
the Go-Betweens are still a going concern. It is
their third recording since reuniting after a
12-year hiatus. The lineup is the same as the last
time out: Songwriters and frontmen Robert Forster
and Grant McLennan are joined once more by drummer
Glenn Thompson, and bassist, keyboardist, and
backing vocalist Adele Pickvance. In addition, there
is a small wind and brass section on some tracks,
and, for a change, no strings. The band dug into its
past for this one, bringing in producer Mark Wallis,
who helmed the sessions for the classic 16 Lovers
Lane in 1988. Oceans Apart sounds very little like
its aforementioned predecessor, but that's hardly a
problem. Wallis understands the band's subtleties
and the textures they like to evoke better than
anyone else they've ever worked with. His production
is more assertive, but hardly excessive. In fact, he
lends the added dimension (he loves keyboards and
electronic percussions) the band's records have
lacked since their comeback. The set opens with
"Here Comes a City," a literary rocker by Forster.
Its shimmering, chunka-chunka riff and Forster's
vocals feel like a refined, musical nod to the
Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime." It's also
paranoid, clamoring for an edge it doesn't quite get
to, and careens along to an uncertain yet quite
arresting end. Things become a bit more
characteristic on McLennan's beautiful "Finding
You," with its lilting guitars, spare, clean lines,
and poetic, emotional lyrics that can open veins
with the fine slash of their honesty. The dreamy,
pillowy "No Reason to Cry" is among the more elegant
songs McLennan has ever composed. Its soulful vocal,
chorus, and the way Wallis layers keyboards, vocals,
and Forster's distorted lead lines give the lyrics
great weight and depth. It's a truly wonderful pop
song. The poetry in "Darlinghurst Nights" is some of
Forster's more poignant, moving through reverie,
grief, and loss. The weave of acoustic and electric
guitars, keyboards, drums, and percussion surrounds
his voice, pushing it out in front just enough to
let his words move toward the listener with enough
force to draw her in. In contrast, his "Lavender"
touches country music but never goes there. Loops,
keyboards, and washes of guitars carry the tune
somewhere else as a clarinet wafts in from the
margin. Once more, its reverie is in his lyric, with
a hint of the previous, as it meets the solitary
present, and it's gorgeous. The electronic beats in
"The Statue" are a bit jarring until the watery,
warm, and luscious keyboards slip underneath subtly,
only to be buoyed by a ringing lead-guitar line and
McLennan's vocal speaking his desire without
flinching. Forster's brief, elegiac "Mountains Near
Dellray" closes the set with another sense of place,
very different from his opener's. The mood is
pastoral as the guitars wind and slip over one
another. In addition, early editions of the CD come
with a six-track, live EP, recorded at the Barbican
in 2004. With its imagination, startling creativity,
and sheer pop soul, Oceans Apart is the first great
Go-Betweens' record of the 21st century.
