Continuing along just about an unbroken line from 2007’s Memories & Dust, Sydney’s Josh Pyke hasn’t exactly busted out a new bag of tricks with Chimney’s Afire – but we’re not complaining, because it all still sounds quite nice. The exuberance of ‘You Don’t Scare Me’, the quietly moody ‘The Lighthouse Song’, and the warm ‘Even in Corners’ are exactly what you’re expecting: poppy and friendly, with a touch of lyrical cleverness here and there. Josh has cemented himself as one of Australia’s most genuinely listenable singer-songwriters, and it’s hard to pick a dud from the new offering which is pervaded by a loose nautical motif.

 

Most of all, there’s an overriding sense of melancholy about the album, a sleepy nostalgia for the comfort of childhood or a summer long past. But it’s through this melancholic reflection that Josh finds affirmation, and even tracks that are at first glance a bit gloomy (‘Our House Breathing’) contain a whiff of optimism at heart. That’s the charm of Pyke – and I wouldn’t mind if he just did it all again in the next album