First Listen: Genevieve Maynard and the Tallboys – The Hollow Way

What do you do when you keep putting out great music that gets largely ignored by the record buying public? In her career post Sydney (and occasionally Triple J) favourite Stella One Eleven, Genevieve Maynard has delivered two wry, adventurous albums of occasionally dark guitar pop – loved by McCabe and other such “critics”, but failing to make an impact on a commercial level.

For her third album – the yet to be commercially released The Hollow Way – Maynard brings along some friends in the form of The Tallboys – a group of instrument wielding gentlemen whose primary role is to add layers of alt-country sensibility to proceedings.  This sound is nothing new for Maynard – she names Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch as influences – and was hinted at throughout her previous releases despite their darker, occasionally electronic nature.

With shades of a young Bonnie Raitt, album opener “Ripped” sets the album tone and sees Maynard’s voice remain steadfast amongst a swirl of piano sprinkles, guitar strums and lap steel moans. “God knows she’s seen some sad things in her time” she ruminates, and you would be forgiven for momentarily fearing twelve upcoming tracks of alt-country sadness. Yet Maynard has always been, and remains, far too intelligent a songwriter for that – throwing in highly literate flourishes at every turn: “the albatross laid its weight on shoulders just not meant to take the strain“.

In line with her shift to more organic instrumentation, Maynard’s lyrics on this journey have a constant nature motif at their core. Whereas previous albums had references born from inner-alterna city dwelling, The Hollow Way is is littered with references to the sea, the sand (one album track is titled almost exactly that), red dirt, creeks and cattleyards. Don’t assume, however, that Maynard fills any kind of Kasey Chambers void – as she herself sings:

“From the beach to the mountains on the winding road / On her henna-stained hands old stories unfold /But I left my guitar on the train and I had to go back to the town again”.

Ultimately, it is Maynard’s voice that grounds this album as a reflective inner city effort. It is a voice of concrete and steel – a voice that knows too much about the world, even at its most fragile. While the alt-country musicianship adds a new richness and warmth to the material this is, at its heart, a true Genevieve Maynard effort: intelligent, thoughtful and just the tiniest bit heartbroken. If this means it is again largely ignored by the consumerist public then so be it – they’ll catch up eventually.

In summary: occasionally dark, sad, intelligent alt-country-pop. Think: Lucinda Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Patty Griffin, Mia Dyson, Jen Cloher.

Standout track: The Albatross

You can download the entire album in low quality mp3 from Genevieve’s website: click here. You can also order the full physical album and also purchase high quality downloads. (Support local artists, yeah?)