Music
Press
“Unfeasibly, for he already was one of our best, Charles Jenkins seems to be getting better and better as a songwriter.”
Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald. 2004 for the solo album Bungalow
His song craft skills are more finely tuned than ever
---Noel Mengel-Brisbane Courier Mail. Bungalow 2004
“A small gem of an album, wonderfully understated and driven by rambling acoustic tones…Beautiful, unpretentious, heartfelt stuff” Shaun Carney-Green Guide Review-The Age Bungalow 2004
“Jenkins’ songs can jump from sentimental to sinister with just one word. The result is firecracker folk-pop driven by the impassioned lyricism of a man with a story to tell you. Memphis Scenestars 2004
Charles Jenkins's delicious pop music exists in a shamefully unrecognised state...he continues to produce songs that are beautifully crafted and executed - Iain Sheddon The Australian 2005 for the album The City Gates
Charles Jenkins is as good as any songwriter in this country. The City Gates showcases Jenkins' superior songwriting.... an instant classic. - JB HiFi mag Oct 2005
Jenkins has pushed his writing to a different place...This is literate, often vivid, rock music of a high quality that deserves a bigger audience - Green Guide review 27 Oct 2005
He's too good a writer not to be in your life Syd Morning Herald, May 25 2006 (live review)
- Various
Discography
ALBUMS
THE MAD TURKS FROM ISTANBUL
Café Istanbul, 1987
Toast, 1990
THE ICECREAM HANDS
Travelling … Made Easy, 1993
Memory Lane Traffic Jam, 1997
Sweeter Than The Radio, 1999
Broken UFO, 2002
You Can Ride My Bike, The Best Of The Icecream Hands, 2004 (compilation)
SOLO
Bungalow, 2004
The City Gates, 2005
Photos
Bio
I’ve been writing songs for a long time now, longer than I’ve been writing bios.
I started out writing words that I would cobble a few chords to. Eventually I learnt a few more chords and tried to cobble some words to them. All part of the process in learning the noble art of combining lyrics, melody and rhythm.
I’m always asking my publisher to invent artists that need songs, you know, like
“Hey Charles, Little King Willie, needs a song”,
“Oh, OK” I reply, “what’s he do?”,
“well”, they continue, “he’s like across between Brian Eno and Allen Touissaint”
“gotcha” I reply, and off I go
They’re the things that prompt my song writing; little characters that you can invent. Sometimes you can invest a lot more of yourself into a song when you feel like you’re being someone else.
Links
