The false start that kicks off “Let Me Let You Down,” thelead track on Run Home Slow, isobviously intentionally left in for the listener. The question is why? It’s pure speculation, but one reason couldbe that it’s a winking way for The Teskey Brothers to prove that despite theexpanded orchestration on this effort- string arrangements, horn sections, andpiano- they are still a quartet that cuts an album as a band, live in thestudio; organic and pure.
The growth of these Australian blues/soul throwbacks on thefollow-up to their widely successful debut, HalfMile Harvest, goes beyond dressing their relatively unembellished songswith additional instrumentation. Theirsound is broadened considerably by the new layers, but remains, at its core,anchored by the direct and affecting voice of Josh Teskey, and thestripped-bare shuffles tastefully executed by guitarist and sibling Sam,drummer Liam Gough and bassist Brendon Love. What made their first album work- poignant and considerate musicianship underpinningJosh’s penetrating voice- return here, but it’s far from a retread. Where the foursome shows the most developmentis in the diversity of their songwriting.
The acapella stomp of “Hold Me,” and the psychedelic rock of“Paint My Heart,” (the latter sounding like an homage to Joe Cocker) are justtwo of the 11 songs that signify a conscious step forward, even while echoingthe soulful late ‘60s era for which the band holds so much respect. It’s almost impossible not to think OtisRedding as Josh scoops the first note, playing against solemn horns, on “Rain,”or hear the funky minor-key grooves of the early ‘70s on “So Caught Up.” Yet, with the warped, whistling riverboatstroll of “Sunshine Baby” and its incandescent bookend, “Sun Come Ease Me In,”the Teskey Brothers’ soul shines in a hazy daydream on this second entry intheir catalog as much as it sets seductively into the night.
