The Thistroubledsoul of Highroad No. 28 reads like a confessional tape made at the end of a long day, under the unspoken burden we bear when we are alone in the world. There is a lengthy silence and then, without pomp, frontman Andrew JC re-emerges with something more of a purging, an uninhibited expression that is agonisingly honest.
Produced alone, with Andrew doing all instruments and vocals, the song has the intimacy of a locked room and a lone flickering light. Guitars soar and swell with a movie-like touch of space and go through the dark tension and momentary flashes of melodic warmth. The bass is aching under the skin, a suppressed anxiety, controlled drum patterns falling with the silent impact of the truths being finally told.
The lasting impression of Thistroubledsoul is that it is non-conformist. The masked, emotionally conflicted vocals are not talking about anguish as much as living within it, bringing the listener perilously near to actual frailty. It is not easy-to-digest alt-rock, but it tells you to stay where it is, to be aware of the invisible battles that are moaning a hundred and one under the surface of ordinary life.
Being the second single off the upcoming album The Will to Endure, the song is a further step towards more serious thinking and emotional adult-hood. Recording of Sing Sing Recording Studios and sensitive mixing of James Taplin also give the atmosphere to breathe without losing the sombreness and intensity of the song.
In this case, Australian alternative rock is barebones with toughness in perseverance. Andrew JC presents a work that is soft-spoken, but impactful a document of emotional survival that does not hide its wounds. Sharp, bold and very moving.
