The Millers Tale

The Millers Tale - Rebecca Quade and John Maclean - peddles a superior brand of folk and country infused pop. At their chirpiest, as in the first half of Wish It Away, their first full-length album, they bring to mind fellow Melburnians Frente, who vanished without trace after topping the charts briefly back in the late 90's. But the overall mood is melancholic, even if the edge is dissolved to a degree by a combination of warm acoustic melodies, sweet vocals and magical harmonies.

Utilising just acoustic guitar, accordion and vocals, augmented by the occasional rhythm section and folk-based additions such as mandolin, violin and accordion, The Millers Tale have created a lush, layered sound that highlights the quality of their excellent songs. The production skills of veteran Jackie Orszaczky, who also contributes some piano tracks as well as his trademark bass, and some masterful mixing by Chris Thompson, who has worked wonders with Augie March and the Waifs, has served the duo well.

Although sweet voiced Rebecca Quade does sterling work on lead vocals, her partner, Maclean, does such a good job on track 10, 'Alberta', that you wonder why he didn't step forward more often.

by Tony Hillier - Rhythms Magazine

The Millers Tale are possibly one of country's best-kept secrets - but as whispers about the band grow so will their inevitable popularity in the acoustic folk music scene. I caught up with one half of the duo, John Maclean while Rebecca Quade, the other half, listened in.

"We met at a party about six years ago," Maclean explains of the band's inception. "We got talking about music and figured we were on the same wavelength. Bec hadn't sung much before and I wanted to play more acoustic stuff."

The music is a sweet infusion of well blended harmonies with thoughtful lyrics. "When we're writing we try to find good melodies so I guess the structure of the songs is a bit more pop but presented in that acoustic way. It's a bit more folky, a bit more rootsy," Maclean explains.

"A lot of it is observational but some of it is just story. Bec always takes snippets from her friends' lives and a lot of her songs come out of that. I write more story-like but with Bec she writes more phrases capturing the emotion of what someone is going through."

The pair sing about a wide range of topics but concentrate on personal growth and healing. "The song that comes to mind there is Rolling Home which is about moving on. That's a healthy thing in life generally, if you have those experiences and push through regardless. It's an easy way out for people if they can avoid the tough work of growing as a person.

"Music generally is just a good way of making sense of things in my life. Sometimes I find a song that means something or connects in a certain way and it makes something in my life a bit easier to deal with or understand. So I guess it's nice to think that our songs were able to do that for people."

They are also currently enjoying their first taste of touring. "It's very bare bones and stripped back because as a duo, unless we start playing drums with our feet, there's not a lot we can do!" he laughs. "A lot of it is acoustic guitar and Bec does a bit of accordion and bass just to vary the tone of it a bit. It's just stripping back the songs as they are recorded and presenting them in that acoustic fashion. We just see what songs we come up with and see where that takes us."

After a break from their first album and two years in the studio for 'Wish It Away' The Millers Tale have produced one very fine album. Their easy-going attitude enabled them to get it 'just right' and perhaps allowed word to spread about the Melbourne duo?

"There was no point in rushing it because as a friend said to us about a year and a half ago 'who's waiting?'"

by Kelly Parish - db Magazine (Adelaide)

The Millers Tale
Wish It Away

* * * *

Melbourne duo John Maclean and Rebecca Quade have nailed it with this album. The follow-up to their 2001 debut, this is a finely woven selection of accomplished guitar work and heart-stirring melodies. The legendary Jackie Orszaczky has helped out with some emotive string arrangements. A treasure.

by Megan Breen - MX Magazine (Melbourne)

The Millers Tale
Wish It Away

Chaucer fans might remember The Millers Tale as a crude serve of scatological slapstick, but fear not. The naughty carpenter and his wife are reincarnated here as a disarmingly gentle chamber-pop duo, John Maclean and Rebecca Quade. Her unaffected voice is all effortless pitch and sleepy conversational Australian-English that neatly serves their kitchen table subject matter: the melancholy of the long-distance pay phone, the innocence of a child, dedications to the weather and absent friends and daydreams of flying. It might become a little vapid were it not for the rich production details of Sydney-based Jazz bassist Jackie Orszaczky. He diverts the trickling acoustic guitars and soft harmonies with strings and muted brass arrangements. He knocks Smile off balance with angular trumpet and trombone and gives Where She Lives a spot of George Martin nostalgia. With its filtered sunlight mood, this is a Sunday morning record of tiny, precious moments: the three-note xylophone chime of Emily, the earthy hand drums and mandolin of July, the crack in Maclean's voice that makes Alberta sound like it must have really happened, at least to someone. Wish It Away is the polished tip of an advancing iceberg of hushed, heart-felt home recordings.

by Michael Dwyer - The Age (Melbourne)

The Millers Tale
Wish It Away

In late 1998, two young musicians grouped together to create music. Genres and goals were never spoken about, but both knew that they wanted the same thing, to make, and perform their own music. After kicking around the gig scene for a few years, The Millers Tale released their debut mini-album, The Millers Tale. After some more gigs, a smidgen of national airplay and the support of the Aussie music press, Rebecca Quade and John Maclean travelled to the other side of the globe for a little bit of inspiration. The Millers Tale's first full-length album, Wish It Away, is the result of living in three cities and all that comes with it.

Wish It Away was arranged/produced by Jackie Orszaczky (You Am I) and mixed by Chris Thompson (Augie March and The Waifs). While the music is not a reflection of Thompson and Orszaczky's past pursuits, the vibe is. There is a relaxed Australianness to the colour, texture and feel. Wish It Away is cafe folk. Starting out with 'Smile', The Millers Tale take rich melodies, ruff cut acoustics and hum harmonics, to create a relaxed mood. 'Lavender' is single material, the slightly heavier instruments are catchy, melody driven and 'Dawson's Creek' soundtrack-like. 'Wheelbarrow' is probably the standout, the soft twang of instruments discreetly accompany the emotive lyrics perfectly.

Wish It Away is more of a full album, than a bunch of standouts. There are few tracks that stand out from the rest, not for any other reason than the tracks are engineered to be played one after each other. Each note holds a chapter of the story and while the story would probably make sense without some chapters in it, it isn't nearly as beatiful. Carefully created music, best listened to with a bottle of (mildly expensive) red, a bubble bath and a readiness to be relaxed.

by Catherine Hogan - Inpress (Melbourne)