CD REVIEW: DAVE WRIGHT and the MIDNIGHT ELECTRIC – HWY

CD REVIEW: DAVE WRIGHT and the MIDNIGHT ELECTRIC – HWY
Independent
April 2017
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7 ½ /10

Cowboy cool, the Australia of wide open roads, and an outlaw attitude come together on HWY, Melbourne rockers Dave Wright and the Midnight Electric’s second album, evoking a sun-drenched sound, distinctively unique in its reassuring familiarity.

Opening track Coming Home features horns that give it a slight Hunters & Collectors edge, but there is more pub rock edge to Wright’s collective than anything Mark Seymour has done in ages.

Over eight big tracks Wright & Co add a distinctly Aussie flavour to tried-and-tested Dylan and Springsteen-styled blue collar storytelling. Where The Needle Hits The Red is a great road song, Avenues Of Honour is a heartfelt ode to fallen heroes, very relevant in today’s political climate, while Happiness goes down a similar songwriting road to post-(I’m) Stranded Chris Bailey (The Saints).

There are country and folk hints flecked throughout the record, the unofficial theme of which is being out on the open road, and Wright also cites the likes of Paul Kelly, John Mellencamp and Don Walker as songwriting influences. Their influences are in the characters throughout this record – the soldiers, the truckers, the battlers, the heartbroken. Writing about real people is a lot harder than it looks, and Wright nails it, never once sounding anything less than staunchly Australian and resolutely authentic.

Category: CD Reviews