by Ainslie Wills
Following two solid EPs Ainslie Wills this month launches her debut full length album “You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine”. Wills has expressed a desire to explore more positive and uplifting territory with this album but like most good records there’s no shortage of both light and shade.
On Mary, the album’s opener we hear an almost funereal organ that gives no indication of the dreamy pop that is to follow. When the strings and layered vocals kick in we get our first taste of the capacity Wills, and close collaborator Lawrence Folvig, have to create lush, multi-faceted contemporary music of the highest order.
There’s a maturity on “You Go My Way, I’ll Go Mine” that belies the relative youth of both Wills and Folvig. Perhaps, despite their age, years of playing in all sorts of contexts on Melbourne stages has given Wills, Folvig and her regular band members a collective sense of confidence to make music that is so assured and so very well constructed. The album hints at Wills’ background in jazz but has stronger elements of neo soul and funk with a strong sense of respect for the art of songwriting.
From the hand-clapping grooves of Fighting Kind to the gentle acoustic space of Satellite, “You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine” is a stunning debut album from an artist we should keep a close eye, and ear on.
More info at www.ainsliewills.com
by Owen McKern - PBS Program Manager
This week's Top 10:
