I’ve been obsessed with Australian rock outfit Carnival Mind for a while now. They’re brand folk music is so superficially simply, but intricately composed. They don’t rely on much other than straightforward melodies with an acoustic guitar and relatable yet poignant lyricism. It’s pure and unfiltered, carrying with it an authenticity to marvel at. In fact, it’s so immediately catchy and addictive that you can’t help but think that you’re listening to decades old folk music simply being covered by a new artist. Their song-writing is truly on a level of its own, something so far detached yet strikingly impressive in today’s pool. They don’t take themselves too seriously, they don’t sing about anything far removed or abstract. They find their expressiveness in simplicity, in the day to day.
On their latest work, ‘Somewhere Down The Line’, their formula is put to use for a defiantly uplifting piece. I normally find uplifting music needs a level of opulence to it, crescendos that are loaded with loud, heavily produced, and innately motivating arrangements to lift you up. But ‘I fall down, but I win in record time’ somehow does the job better than any power pop piece could. It’s all in the delivery, the subtle tonal shifts on the chorus, and the evocativeness that they shine.
I walk in to a moment lost in time, somewhere down the line. You feel teary eyed, renewed, and energised all at once by the end of it. If nothing else, Carnival Mind are a testament that true blooded simple song-writing can never be replaced or augmented when done right.
After all, they were just sick of hearing Ed Sheeran.