Album Review: The Glorious - Sweetwater

The Glorious revolve around Melbourne singer-songwriter Dave Mather and they've been peddling their classic pop-rock sound in a variety of incarnations since 2004. Their second album, Sweetwater, makes a strong case for the appeal of well-crafted songs that succeed on nuance and feel rather than a band fighting to be heard in the latest scene.

There's a streak of US west coast country rock through most of their songs and the sound of Gram Parsons, CSN and a hint of Neil Young make the overall mood one of warm breezy evenings – that endless summer vibe. They're also indebted to The Band for the way they dress their songs in both traditional and psychedelic fashion with textural guitar often colouring their dreamy country strums. The title track is the best example of Mather's upbeat, uber-melodic and sweet songs while Hold On To You suggests there's also heartbreak beneath the relatively lightweight exterior. Where the album loses points is its lack of bite. It generally sounds too nice, too clean-cut and produced which, over the album's duration, results in a homogenous blurring of the high points amid the songs that are pleasant but forgettable. Part of that's due to Mather's exceptional, high-register voice, which sounds fantastic but more often than not heads to ethereal places making it hard to form a lyrical connection and gain a sense of grounding in the songs.

Frustrations aside, Sweetwater still offers many rewards for those who value the central tenets of classic singer-songwriter composition and the tender charm of a sensitive-voiced man. The Glorious might not entirely live up to their name but they've created a very good record nonetheless.