Standard black vinyl or limited edition green.
There are few songwriters alive whose music i connect with more than that of Perth's almost-hit maker David West, a tenderly poised chameleon of the world's underground whose spent over a decade in and out of 'more-or-less obscure acts' (his words, not mine) making more records than most might in many lifetimes over. Jolly In The Bush is his fourth under his own name, and certainly my favourite of that quadrilogy, though it's a saga i'm sure will be told over more than four parts in the end. Fans of DW and his many guises will understand why. Jolly In The Bush is, unequivocally, his most realised solo collection to date, a winding journey through his various inspirations - powerpop, jangle, synthpop and oddball electronics - that positions melody and emotional confessionalism at its centre. It's the latter that's always been the main appeal of David's writing for me, a master of the kind of smart phrasing that seems laser-targeted for the heartstrings and rich in its own scenery - "Do you need shirts for your job interviews? /Do you need money, money for food? / Ah, that you can use"; "Because you’re so direct / Loneliness can seem a little irrelevant". That kind of thing, every song (and, may i add, in the Thin Lizzy meets Sarah Records opener, no little sauciness). It's the kind of gentle poeticism that immediately flicks switches for those of a certain sensibility, an ally for the wallflowers, romantics, dis-skeptics. Another time might have made a household name of a writer like David West. As it is, we can enjoy his private universe(s) free of the horrors of the wider world, a secret to be passed around with ever loudening voice.
