ALBUM REVIEW: The Doomed Bird Of Providence – A Flight Across Arnhem Land

10 To 1 Records

Released: 01.07.22

After their brilliant but gruelling last album, this fourth LP from Mark Kluzek and his cast of collaborators is vastly different in style and content. Taking Australian newspaper stories from the early twentieth century as a starting point, this is a much less harrowing affair – even darkly jolly in places – full of mystery and wrongdoing and the uncanny.

Working with a storied band, and with Kluzek frequently sounding like a raucous Brian Eno, the album draws on a variety of folk and roots traditions and has a loose warmth that at times calls to mind The Mekons and a waywardness that recalls Dead Rat Orchestra. There’s even hints of the dark Weimar cabaret of Tiger Lillies. It’s a rich and rewarding listen.