Album Review: Lincoln Le Fevre - 'Resonation'

There’s something that feels uniquely Australian about our appreciation for a good, honest yarn concerning folks who are – for the most part – quite everyday, working class people. With ‘Resonation’, his second full-length LP and first with Melbourne label Poison City Records, Tasmanian native Lincoln Le Fevre has crafted a heartfelt album that feels deeply personal but naturally relatable. Expert storytelling features against a backdrop of country/folk instrumentation, and Le Fevre’s unmistakably Australian accent.

‘We’re all just photos with the faces cut out / and if we don’t give a shit then we can’t be caught out’, begins Le Fevre on track opener ‘The Boatshed’, and it’s an indication of the kind of deeply personal but instantly familiar sentiments the 12-song album carries. Whether it’s an ode to talented friends and the therapeutic power of seeing your favourite band over a few cold ones (‘Get Drunk, See Bands’), the cast of charismatic regulars at the local pub (‘Hope and Crown’) or simply relationships that never fully get off the ground (‘On and On’), Le Fevre’s ability to take relatively common experiences and turn them into distinctly intimate accounts turns the stories we’ve all heard before into something that feels much more raw and sincere.

Musically, ‘Resonation’ maintains a core band of acoustic guitar, bass and drums throughout the record, with Linc playing banjo and harmonica on several tracks – something that makes ‘Resonation’ stick out and maintain interest in an era where the ‘punk muso doing an acoustic album’ is an almost overwhelmingly frequent occurrence. The inclusion of banjo on 'Kinetic', a cover of the Osker classic does much to make it an album highlight. Pianos, organs and slide guitar are also used sparingly to help add a sense of warmth on a few tracks. The album darts between solemnity and energy, with the brooding, introspective ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Sad and Lonely’ finding themselves at home just as well as raucous folk-punk sing-alongs ‘Dilettantes’ and the aforementioned ‘Hope and Crown’, and the repetition and boredom that can mar these kind of records is, for the most part, thankfully avoided. The album heads into potentially murky territory around the eighth track, but the last three tracks bring the record home in outstanding fashion.

‘Resonation’ is ultimately a very real, down to earth record that strays well away from the gimmicks. If you’re in the market for a record that is, quite simply, an unbelievably sincere slice of Australian folk music and storytelling, grab a beer and appreciate the refreshingly bullshit-free music of Lincoln Le Fevre.

1. The Boatshed
2. Tracey
3. Dilettantes
4. Driftwood
5. Hope and Crown
6. Sad and Lonely
7. On and On
8. You Already Know the Answer
9. Rosalie
10. Kinetic
11. Get Drunk, See Bands
12. The Mainland