Caitlin Harnett & The Pony Boys

Late Night Essentials

Evening Records

Caitlin Harnett’s 2014 debut album The River Runs North was an accomplished exercise in confessional, acoustic-based contemporary folk with a strength of songwriting at its core. As part of a an established collective of movers and shakers in the Sydney Americana scene – aiding and abetting its swagger and storytelling over the last decade – she’s finally followed it up with her electric band The Pony Boys and taken her music her to a whole other, and stunningly sublime level.

Harnett’s early sound has been replaced with more reflective, unhurried, deep grooves, born of life’s highs and lows, mistakes made and lessons learnt. Built on a sweet and soulful rolling sound, there’s just the right amount of bite and twang in the guitars and a solid swing in the rhythm section. A bunch of the songs accentuate the 70s bar band feel with saxophone but though it often rocks, this album conjures up images of last confessions at closing time at the bar or that slow-motion feeling of a bleary-eyed Sunday morning. Mazzy Star meets Neko Case and Lucinda Williams.

On the back of essential live favourites such as ‘Rosie’, ‘Make You Feel Blue’, ‘All My Friends Are Dancers’ and ‘5am’, heartache and melancholy never sounded so fine on this collection of Americana country-soul songs from the back streets, bars and bedrooms of Sydney’s Inner West.

Read our interview with Caitlin HERE

Chris Familton