Music
Press
"Help You" single of the week
"... a shimmering, orchestral wonder. Hip." - BRAG, Australia
"The effectiveness..... was evident as it demanded the audience’s attention from the very beginning. Adrian set the atmosphere perfectly..." - FasterLouder, Australia
"Taking time out to thank the audience’s enthusiastic response, Adrian delivers the rousing sway of ‘Her Light’ in a dry tenor, before changing back to guitar and playing a wistful ballad with a deep reverb solo and final flourish." - Time Off, Australia
While Wolfmother (see above) look at the 70's and can only see the trees, Adrian Deutsch can see the wood and the grassy knoll behind it, and he's having a fine old time there, kicking back with a few beers, some bread and cheese and just the right company.
On his solo debut, after some time with the consistently impressive Red Riders, this Sydneysider can almost make you believe in a golden age of radio - which never existed in Australia of course - where AM and FM's best qualities blended. Think of it as an alternative history, the way life should have been.
That's the time when you could switch on the wireless and through the day hear piano-led pop from Elton John, blue - eyed soul from Hall and Oates, some of John Lennon's early solo work, the pub-friendly melodic rock you'd find in Nick Lowe's Brinsley Schwarz, a swish or two or brightly lit tunes from Todd Rundgren and, along with a healthy bit of country rock, the studio - bound more complex adult music that stretched from Steely Dan to Toto.
That may sound like a dizzying and impractical range of music but that says more about how limited our listening can be these days and anything else, for in truth there is a base of songwriting and pop sense in all of those. And that's what Deutsch understands. His voice can be a bit weedy at times, not quite up to the full stretch of "Leave Love" or the lyrical drive of "In the Light of Abraham" but it's not the end of the argument.
Not when "Help You" kicks in like California transported to Birmingham (I don't like saying it but I can hear some ELO here and I don't mind it), "Splitting the Difference" takes some lightly dusted urban soul and aligns it with late-period Beatles or when some Brian Cadd-style rootsy pop infect "Her Light". Even "The Village Song" which maybe too obviously grafts The Doors' Touch Me onto some pre-disco funky pop, has a kind of boyish enthusiasm to carry it past it's signposts.
It's not like Deutsch has quite worked his way to the level of these songwriters: a bit of pastiche, a smidgen too much repetition and a few clunky changes hold him back. But he isn't afraid to aim there at least, to put some of their ideas together, to say that if it ain't a broken idea, why not give it another spin in a fresh suit? What's more, he does explore lyrical territory not often trodden, such as the fighting Jews of "The Partisan": "I'm not a violent man but..."
And again it's not as if no one else thought of it. Both Wilco and Josh Rouse, in different ways, have been dipping into similar corners of this era in recent years and making some excellent albums. But like those mythical radio stations, there's always room to hear one more.
Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald, 24/10/09
- Sydney Morning Herald
"Formerly of Sydney new-wave darlings Red Riders fame, Adrian Deutsch has unveiled his debut solo album Help You!, evoking 70’s folk, dazzling classic pop and exuberant orchestral arrangements across forty-one minutes of timeless soul. " - thedwarf.com.au
2SER SYDNEY RADIO ALBUM OF THE WEEK 12/10/09 - 2SER
Indie clip of the week on Rage, Australia's premier music video program broadcast nationally on the ABC network. - RAGE
Front page of Australian iTunes in the "What's Hot" section - iTUNES Australia
Discography
The Partisan - single
Help You - single
Help You! - album
Photos
Bio
http://www.myspace.com/adriandeutschmusic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMeA9tfaF6M
After sharing stages with The Pretenders, The Shins, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and The Zutons as a member of Red Riders, and touring solo with Joan As Police Woman and Aimee Mann, Sydney songwriter Adrian Deutsch is proud present his debut LP Help You! - a shimmering set of classic pop, radio rock and 70s soul.
Full of evergreen songwriting, the album marks a definitive moment for Deutsch, who sets scorching guitar, abundant hooks and lush orchestral arrangements to his own unique groove across 12 varied tracks.
The kind of music that I admire is older, and its all about song writing, he says. I love 60s and 70s pop rock, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, and the playing is 80% of it. Theres something about that music that isnt self-conscious. I like the sound of people playing together.
I sought refuge in that urgent, classic pop and soul, and wanted to make something honest, he says. Fittingly, Help You! sounds like a love letter.
Songs like Splitting The Difference and Help You! reflect Deutschs optimism; marrying joyous Gershwin melodies with Elvis Costellos wit and Curtis Mayfields funk, and charging fidelity with Gainsbourg-esque swagger.
You can get your message across without hitting someone over the head with minor chords, he says of his style. And I always loved Jarvis Cocker and Gainsbourg that sultriness in the delivery it doesnt mean you have to sing about shallow things.
Help You! balances good fortune and celebration against Deutschs growing emotional maturity and distinctly adult perspective.
Things are pretty good for me he says. I have a beautiful girlfriend and family, and its a lucky place to be. So the rest of the album asked What if things were different?
Its an idea that he fully explores on The Partisan, charting his family heritage as European Jews during WW2. Im the grandson of Holocaust survivors, and growing up, I never took the time to think about the gravity of that, and how I came to have this nice life.
As for the romantic, often melancholic spark and soul evident across the album, Deutsch says its just his honest response to everyday challenges. Its a big picture thing taking a little situation and turning it into an all-encompassing thought. Its really positive, and a simple message, really.
Co-produced with Berkfinger at Big Jesus Burger studios, mixed by Adrian and mastered by Kevin Metcalfe (Rufus Wainwright, Pulp, Paul Weller) at The Soundmasters in London, Help You! is for anyone who has ever sung along to FM radio; an uplifting, stylish and classically pop-literate debut.
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