Review of Down Every Street by John Carver, Presenter of “Across the tracks” on PBS Radio, Melbourne.
“David Hosking should be one of Australia’s most recognised singer songwriters, there is no doubting that. Why he isn’t is a question that simply puzzles me. Any muso he works with knows it, any time he performs (and that is not enough) the audience know it, every time I play a track on radio the phones light up. It remains one of life’s mysteries but this is one secret I’m happy to share as often as I can. Not the most prolific artist alive (as he says in Version of Me “I won’t be rushed”), a new album from David is always a revelation.
Down Every Street is a sublime effort from a similarly sublime artist. As always the songs are strong, sometimes anthemic and sometimes poignant. The arrangements are understated but perfect, the lyrics honest, exploratory and bare. The moods range from stripped back acoustic sounds to brooding rock and roll with even a touch of mariachi horns. The musicians helping him out are simply expressing a shared joy at working again with superb material and a genuine musical enigma.
I have always believed Hosking’s earlier album Jack’s Boy to be an Australian classic. Well, he’s done it again. Stunning. Joyful. Inspiring. Down Every Street should be compulsory listening. I am in danger of wearing my copy out.”
Beat Magazine Review of "Sleeper"
Review by Richard Gaudion
21 April, 2004
A veteran of the local live circuit, and recent support act for The Waifs, David Hosking has released six independent CDs since 1990. Sleeper is Hosking's first album with out a band; for the most part - at least on the first listen - it's just one man, a voice, and an acoustic guitar. But things get interesting after a few more sittings; in fact it's not long at all before you realise that there are so many good songs in this lovingly-crafted bunch of gems, you can't decide which one to play again first. A few highlights are the opening track, the frank two-minute piano- ballad, "Blank", which sounds like it's from Tom Waits' Closing Time, the
stripped folk ballad "Fork", and the shimmering "High and Low", which features some gorgeous additional harmonies from Shelley Scowan.
But be warned; it's not all easy listening: "Would I Trade World Peace For You?" is an abrasive, distorted, bussing electric guitar solo with a sweeping cello so quiet in the background you hardly notice it's there at all on the first listen. "Wasteland" also pulls out the electric guitar, but this time adding some delicate backing vocals for the chorus. Towards the tail-end of the album, "Right On Time", "All Senses" and "Dead and "Buried" are simply beautiful in their glistening simplicity. "All Senses" is particularly haunting , with it's warm introspective vocals, jaunty acoustic guitar and gentle, eerie background atmospherics. "Dead and Buried" features some forlorn and affecting guitar work beneath sparse snatches of dry, disillusioned vocals and dejected melody. There's also a hidden trac, a growling 11 minute acoustic-folk opus which appears to be an attempt to narrate - in a repetitive and seemingly endless poetic form - The Condensed History of Australia In One Song. This bonus track doesn't sit comfortably with the rest of the album but it's quite quirky, upbeat and courageous ditty nonetheless. Please don't be put off by the cover - Hosking looks like one of those rambling drunken old tramps who sell raffle tickets outside Flinders Street Station for a raffle that never takes place. As a folk/rock singer/songwriter though, he's up there with the best in contemporary alternative Australian music, and
deserves to be much better known.
Mark Patterson
BBC Northern Ireland
"I love this album. He has the lot … the melody, the voice, the observation and lyric ….and all the carefree passion of a journeyman troubadour. Without doubt, the best unsigned songwriter I have heard."
Wexford Live Entertainment
Festival Music and Event guide for Wexford
David Hosking played Wexford's Crown Bar on Sunday, Feb 22. Already very popular indeed something of a folk hero in Australia, he made a decision last September to dip a toe in the more dynamic Irish and British music scene. This led to him taking the rather unusual decision of making Derry his home for a period of six months. The Wexford gig was his last before he departs for Melbourne.
While here David has been working away at the hard-to-crack singer/songwriter coalface. He has supported artists of the calibre of Ron Sexsmith and Juliet Turner, and he has played at arts centres and music clubs in the north of the country and in Britain. While in Derry, he has received extensive critical acclaim and airplay on both Radio Foyle and Radio Ulster.
Before decamping to this hemisphere, David had been playing the Melbourne live scene for many years. He is held in high regard in his hometown. Intelligent lyrics and clever melodies characterise his eclectic brand of folk-pop. You will not hear the rattle of a sledgehammer anywhere in his work; his music is subtle and full of hard-fought-for wisdom: "Jesus forgive me for all the things beneath my belt/forget, forget like a mother would/. . .step to my door and punch the bell/I won't hear it otherwise 'cause I play loud as hell" (from "Lie Down Here").
The Crown Bar gig was a low key affair and yet none the less sweet for all that. His stories and his songs merged into one in such a way as to keep the small audience engaged throughout.
"The man writes like Schultz created cartoons; simple, uncluttered life pictures that strike you as nothing but authentic. He is one of the finest songwriting talents I have heard, and I wouldn't be surprised if you see his career unfold rapidly here in Ireland." (Mark Patterson, BBC)
One of Hoskings' strong points is not dithering too much between different styles; he has an incredible vocal range which is pefectly suited to the personal and observational material. Sleeper is an absolute stunner of an album. www.musicworkz.co.uk
As a folk/rock singer/songwriter he's up there with the best in contemporary alternative Australian music, and deserves to be better known.
You can find out more about David's music at Belmore Records web site.
Catch David at The Vine, Wexford with Roesy Oct 16,