Is fate the only one that knows our destiny? I felt like this might be the case when I discovered All Fires (previously All Fires the Fire ) late last year at The Falls Festival , Marion Bay .
The journey to the festival was an unlikely one. I’ve never been a massive fan of Falls line-ups but last year drew me in. Despite all of my friends dropping out, I persuaded my boyfriend that we had to go. Now I’m going to get a bit Phillip K Dick on you, but I am convinced that I was sent to that festival to “discover” the Tasmanian band…. I’m being serious.
After their show, I was so blown away that I gave them and their sophomore album, Caves , a glowing review . However obsession shortly followed. After discovering their debut album Gloryland (2010) on Spotify , my mind became fixated that Australia must hear this band.
The bands formula is simple; two synths, a varying number of guitars and the heart-gripping voice of Adam Ouston . His voice follows you and haunts you. The bands intuition displayed in writing and programming, undeniably gives necessary modernity to Adam’s timeless vocals.
‘ Headlights ’ is my favourite track on Gloryland , depicting the struggles of bottled emotions. Thunderous drums and warmth of bass guitar give energy to the introduction. The momentum is elevated by soaring synths – which definitely make for a giddying sensation. If you listen closely the intro quite almost psychedelic (listen to their live performance of ‘Headlights’ if you want to hear the track with an intensely reverberated bent).
I’m not going to say anymore, because now is the important part.
Please go forth and listen to ‘Headlights’ (below), then the rest of
Gloryland
, then the whole of
Caves
and make up your mind.
National treaure is obviously a disputable title however at the least, All Fires are extremely under appreciated.
WORDS BY Sonia Miles-Khan
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