AFTER the cold and late-night synth isolation of Husky's 2017 album Punch Buzz, Stardust Blues is like the warm embrace of your favourite old jumper.
Last year the Melbourne indie-folk four-piece converged on their soon-to-be-demolished spiritual home, the Westbury Hotel, to write. Those ideas were later recorded in the studio live to 24-track tape. It helped forge the intimate vibe.
It also doesn't hurt that Husky Gawenda has swooped like a musical magpie re-purposing familiar sounds, old and new.
The synth-drenched riff of Light A Cigarette sounds like Lonerism-era Tame Impala before Gawenda's melody steers close to fellow Australian indie band Holy Holy. The Foxes Of Caulfield is also influenced by Kevin Parker's fuzzed-out psych-pop. On Quicksand the influence is more White Album-era Beatles and Dirty Water steers into Americana territory.
Husky never attempts to rush the listener. Stardust Blues is made for quiet contemplation. These are well-crafted songs that reveal themselves slowly through repetition.
3.5 stars