Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 24/07/06
Label: Virgin

Luke Steele is nothing if not a perfectionist driven by extraordinary self-belief. How else to describe a musician willing to record 80 vocal tracks for just one song - and sing them all himself? Or an artist who once sacked his own brother from his band, because he thought the pressures on his personal life were distracting him from the creative work at hand? How about a Beach Boys-obsessed popster who, after just three days working in NYC with the guru of contemporary psych-pop, David Fridmann (Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips), decided he didn't like what he was doing and flew home to his own, original rough mixes? It's indeed a fine line between genius and madness and the linchpin of The Sleepy Jackson has been walking that tightrope for much of his creative life.

When the Perth-based band released their "Lovers" debut album in 2003 - a soaring, helium-borne confection of Todd Rundgren, The Beach Boys, Phil Spector and Prince - it was to a foamy outpouring of critical acclaim. Then, nada. Nada, that is, apart from escalating intra-band trouble and strife, much of it bound up with drink, depression, megalomania and Steele's fervent religious belief. The intervening years have made The Fall look like a model of stability, with the singer-songwriter seeing off three complete band incarnations and racking up the number of ex-Sleepy Jackson members to ten. Now, it's just Steele plus long-term drummer and keyboardist Malcolm Clark.

Given the ructions, you might imagine "Personality: One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird" represents such a radical swerve of direction that ground zero action was unavoidable, but essentially, it's "Lovers" part two. Symphonic swathe upon sumptuous symphonic swathe, with infinitely layered vocals (main and backing) is again Steele's style, the overall effect so head-swimmingly summery that it's a wonder wasps don't fly out of the record's sleeve. Steele has spoken about wanting the feel of Neu! or Kraftwerk in the album's vocal melodies ("short, snappy and on-the-beat") and true, his careful enunciation means that you can clearly hear his lyrics, but, Krautrock's metronomic precision? He be dreamin'.

The sweetly melancholic pop spirits of Bacharach ("How Was I Supposed To Know"), Prince ("I Understand What You Mean But I Just Don't Agree", which is cheekily modelled after "Raspberry Beret"), Prefab Sprout ("You Won't Bring People Down In My Town") and Brian Wilson (just about everywhere) hover over "Personality…", ensuring grand orchestral scale and a sizeable swoon factor. "Lovely" may well be something you say about a dish of mango fool on a summer's afternoon, but The Sleepy Jackson's latest is exactly that. If it's second helpings, what does that really matter?

    by Sharon O'Connell