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DIORAMA
Silverchair
(Warner)
A few years ago, Silverchair's Daniel Johns wanted to be Kurt Cobain when he grew up. Well, now he wants to be Brian Wilson.
That's the only conclusion we can draw after hearing Across the Night, the opening track of his post-grunge trio's fourth album Diorama. A glorious orch-pop ode boasting both the sunshine melancholy of the Beach Boys' mastermind and the grand, swelling string arrangements of frequent Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks, Across the Night is one of several orchestra-laced cuts here that make it patently clear where the 22-year-old singer and guitarist's songwriting aspirations lie these days. Then again, the searing guitar riffs and quiet-loud dynamics of tracks like One Way Mule, The Greatest View and Without You make it just as obvious he still hasn't fully outgrown the Nirvava-based grunge that defined his power trio's early hits.
And while he's able to combine them effectively much of the time, in general Diorama sticks closer to the ambitious path established on the group's 1999 album Neon Ballroom than the chugging teen power of Frogstomp.
Thankfully, for the most part it succeeds gloriously, as Johns slowly but surely divests himself of his youthful angst and dark worldview in favour of songs that paint in colour and seek a path to the light at the end of the tunnel.
If he keeps following Wilson's lead instead of Cobain's, he just might find it. (More on Silverchair)
Track Listing
1. Across the Night
2. Greatest View
3. Without You
4. World Upon Your Shoulders
5. One Way Mule
6. Tuna in the Brine
7. Too Much of Not Enough
8. Luv Your Life
9. Lever
10. My Favourite Thing
11. After All These Years