Album Review: Gurrumul The Gospel Album

28 July 2015 | 3:32 pm | Tyler McLoughlan

"There's a soul-reaching warmth in the languid cadence."

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On his third studio recording, national treasure Gurrumul reimagines the traditional music of his childhood and the spiritual songs brought to north-east Arnhemland by Christian missionaries.

Lead single, Jesu, is a gentle song of praise that feels meditative within its repetitive framework, serving as an anchor for the record which soon unveils a sweeping violin that competes graciously with Gurrumul's ever-soothing voice on the ethereal Baptism and a playful, mandolin-decorated marching rhythm on Sweetest Name. Somehow, Gurrumul manages to make Amazing Grace, the flagship Christian hymn, magical again — it would be enough for him to simply hum the entire way through, such is the beauty of his high tenor, though the loveliness of his native Yolngu language is fully appreciated in the context of a familiar melody.

Don't be mistaken however — this isn't a record purely for the hymn enthusiasts among us. This is a record for anyone who cherishes the possibility brought about by a waiting turntable on a wide-open Sunday. It's easy, like Sunday morning — there's a soul-reaching warmth in the languid cadence, largely supported by the double-bass of long-time Gurrumul collaborator Michael Hohnen and, along with underlying country rhythms, it makes The Gospel Album a pretty great companion piece to Macca's Australia All Over. Whichever way an individual interprets their own spirituality, The Gospel Album is likely to fit within those parameters — on that level, any Gurrumul record will do a fine job.