Listener’s Songs of the Week: New tracks by Lizzy McAlpine, Crowded House, Prince, and Voom
Prince, Lizzy McAlpine, Voom and Crowded House. Photos / Supplied
All Falls Down
By Lizzy McAlpine
Lizzy McAlpine’s newly released, and quietly contemplative album softly speaks about some pretty devasting relationship woes. Conversely, its fourth track, All Falls Down, is particularly fun and ever so slightly more upbeat in its use of twee flutes and piano solos. Make no mistake, it’s still in keeping with the existentiality of the American singer-songwriter’s other songs as, over trumpets, she sings she “can’t stop the time from moving” and “can never get it back.” – Alana Rae
Teenage Summer
By Crowded House
We could be mean and say the average age of Crowded House’s 2024 line-up is about 55 so all things adolescent are quite a distant memory even for the younger members of the Finn family firm. But this swirl of 12-string guitars, marching band beats and Simon & Garfunkel-esque vocal harmonies, on lyrics that aren’t sunny nostalgia but something more enigmatic, is quite the exuberant pop banger. One that bodes well for the new album out next month. – Russell Baillie
Martin Phillipps
By Voom
Those already describing this indulgently funny Voom ditty song as a “tribute” to the head Chill might need to know the back-story. On The Chills’ The Lost EP from the mid-1980s, the closing track Dream by Dream had Phillipps and then bassist Martin Kean singing about the latter’s departure from the band (“they killed my best dream dead”) having been given his notice by the frontman. Which was odd. Kean, who would go on to a gig with Stereolab then an academic career in graphic design, is the cousin of Voom songwriter Buzz Moller. So, this song isn’t just an ode to Phillipps’ nerdiness, it’s a song reacting to a song – some 40 years later. Plus, it’s a gentle act of revenge against The Chills’ staff policies of the past. Meanwhile, the momentum towards Voom releasing its third album in 26 years builds up yet more, um, steam. Oh, and coincidentally, there’s a new version of The Lost EP out for this month’s Record Store Day. – Russell Baillie
Good Luck, Babe!
By Chappell Roan