Album Review: Adam Young - Elementary Carnival Blues

Although emanating from Sydney's inner-west, Adam Young offers a solid vein of alt-country, with occasional nods to the likes of Springsteen and/or Tom Petty.

While there's some Americana accents, the call of Breeza's "Gunbarrel Highway" is certainly from round here, not some Montana backroad. There's other tangents, the richness of The Queen Of The Plains coming with some Calexico trumpets in the distance. He also knows where to add a dialogue: Katie Brianna's second voice on The New West recalls the spaces between that Low can find, with Jason Walker's pedal steel the hum in the wires. It's an assured piece of work, everything finding the right place for itself.