Blue Mallee - Questions Of Fear

​Blue Mallee

Questions Of Fear
self-released; 2023

TOP ALBUM

By ​Dino DiMuro
​

What is Blue Mallee? One answer is that it’s an oil or soap derived from the Eucalyptus plant, commonly known as the blue-leaved mallee, endemic to south-eastern Australia. What is the Blue Mallee group? They’re a folk music duo endemic to Sydney, Australia, who’ve just released an EP titled Questions Of Fear.

The members of Blue Mallee are a mystery, even in this total information age. They look like a husband and wife but never say so. Searching all their social media and reviews, I could not find so much as a first name! So, this review will be totally about the music, which they say showcases “music ambience, primal rhythms, soaring vocals, storytelling, and great banter, pushing the boundaries of contemporary indie folk music with traditional influences and dreamlike soundscapes.” The duo has played many venues and festivals in Australia. Based on their Instagram photos, it appears that the man in the group plays guitar and most other instruments, with the woman performing hand drum, percussion, and harmonies.

Keeping the anonymous nature of this band consistent, they state that recording took place in two different studios in Sydney, with one track recorded and mixed by “an award-winning producer.” Mastering was done by a Highly Regarded Mastering Technician.

Approaching the band as a novice, I saw the word “folk” and was expecting yet another traditional roots-folk album. It is nothing of the kind. In fact, it’s much closer to dreampop than folk, though without the Pop. The band specifically describes this collection of songs as having “melancholy undertones that could only exist in cold climates such as Iceland and Austria.”

“Hallstatt” begins very much like a classic folk song, with gorgeously strummed acoustic guitar and sincere, reassuring vocals (“I love the view out my window / I love watching the view change / Especially at the lowest light”). The band explains that the song “was written whilst traveling in Austria and picking up a mysterious virus in Salzburg. Planning to visit Hallstatt situated on the other side of the lake, these words were penned whilst bed-bound in Obertraun and later formed into a song during the 2020 COVID lockdown.”

From the beginning, instead of pedal steel or something similar, we start hearing ghostly secondary guitars and synths that grow steadily louder until they fully envelop the vocalist. There is a slide guitar solo in the middle, but it’s more of a feeling instead of a star turn. By the final third, we also have drums and bass and even a faint harmony vocal. I found this song to be a perfect example of Blue Mallee’s unique mixture of folk and space music. This is followed by a very short instrumental track confusingly titled “z3p()73Vn3” that is fully ambient and orchestral and acts as a kind of overture for the next song. “Flush of Hearts” follows the template of the opening track, with the folk-rock tune at its center surrounded by strange ambient effects, including bird-like electric guitar. This song, even within the sound miasma, has a forward energy very similar to Irish traditional. The electric guitars and drum kit drive the song even harder.

“GODAFOSS” was an early single from this album, released on all streamers. The band calls it “a saga story about survival and sacrifice entwined with Norse mythology.” As befits an Epic Saga, there are several sections, starting with delicate acoustic guitar and piano along with story-song vocals. There are ominous rumblings of lost fishing boats, a lack of food, and a father “60 years gone.” The music gets even quieter before the big explosion of electric guitars, multiple heroic vocals, and deep, assertive hand drums. There’s dark power in the drone-like driving chords, pushed almost to the breaking point. In the final section, I was amazed to hear what sounded like a string section.

“Boat With Wings” is a short acoustic interlude mixed below big, slow waves of keyboards and feedbacked guitar, which leads into the six-minute final track “Bedroom Bride” which was “recorded and mixed by an award-winning producer.” Not dissimilar from the other songs, this one has just a bit more care and gravity, with lots of interesting panned sounds as the vocalist sings with a melancholy, Glenn Hansard energy. It’s a great track with beautifully recorded elements, though I might have preferred just a bit less mixing magic (but that totally depends on your mood!).

​Honestly, I thought I knew what to expect from these guys, and was almost totally wrong. Fans of folk who don’t mind dreamy, spacey detours should find much to love here.

linktr.ee/bluemalleemusic

bluemallee.bandcamp.com/album/questions-of-fear-ep

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