Album Review: Big Scary - Not Art

Two years after they flipped musical expectations with debut Vacation, Melbourne's Big Scary do the same again, reconfiguring their sound once more with self-produced and engineered sophomore offering Not Art. And upon hitting play, there's not even time to mention 'difficult second album'; Hello, My Name Is and Luck Now immediately humble you into a backseat position, and quickly you find yourself sitting in full vulnerability, immersed, taking the full-length on board as the music connects with every emotional fibre within.

It's impossible to classify what Tom Iansek and Jo Syme have crafted. It is indie rocking one moment, soulful lounge the next. The vocal range of the pair has really stepped up – that's definitely clear, though – and when they harmonise together, especially with a lingering piano and drum beat trailing (Twin Rivers, Invest), it's so stirring and rich. Belgian Blues incorporates echoed howls and a Middle Eastern-vibe that somehow recalls Jeff Buckley, Cloud Control and The Tea Party all within four-and-a-half minutes. Meanwhile, the curiously-titled but to-a-degree on-point Why Hip Hop Sucks In '13 is a late gem that flows majestically, holding the sort of haunting qualities that you'd expect from Tori Amos, not Big Scary. In fact, it's hard to actually connect the two-piece that have crafted Not Art to the one that released the garage pop found on The Four Seasons collection of EPs, such is the artistic growth shown here.

This is music for late nights and comedown mornings; it's for red wine and close times. There's so many ideas pushed into this record that by all logic it shouldn't work. However, it does, and spectacularly so.