New Zealand-born Sydney resident Jason Walker has a long history
in Australian music, performing in various bands, acting as a writer, steel
guitarist, singer and lead player. All-Night
Ghost Town is his first solo effort, yet it’s clearly the work of a mature
artist. The songs sound ripe and unhurried, the work of someone who has taken
care and time to write and chosen just the right songs at the right time.
Walker’s voice is on the crooning side of country, still
with an edge that means he’d be at home on rural pub stages just as much as
city clubs. His songs are evocative stories of people who seem to like around
the edges and in the cracks, asserting that ‘twilight is the loneliest time of
day’ and that ‘love is just another word for what becomes habitual’. Yet Walker’s
talk on these characters isn’t maudlin: there’s no pity there, just regard.
The album was produced by Shane Nicholson, who has taken his
usual care with it and brought out the best version of the artist. As a
producer, this appears to be one of his great strengths: identifying what’s
unique about each artist and placing it at the core of their recorded music
while making sure that everything around it works to support it.
For all that All-Night
Ghost Town is the result of three decades in music, it sounds like the
start of something. No doubt Walker has more songs tucked away and more stories
to tell, so it probably won’t be long before we see another great album.
All-Night Ghost Town is out now through Lost Highway Australia/Universal.
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