All India Radio Fall by: Liam Tracey Tue:26-Aug-08 Label: Minty Fresh Year: 2008 WB rating 70 out of 100

Melbourne’s All India Radio are one of the city’s best kept secrets. They’ve been quietly racking up some appreciation all over Australia, yet remaining well out of the radar of any major attention. For those unaware, the band have been likened to Sigur Ros and Boards of Canada in the past, and with the release of this year’s Fall the band look to be drawing on such comparative strengths – and at the same time growing well beyond their most humble of beginnings. With the incredible These Winter Dreams having already been released in 2008, a second release in Fall already seems a remarkable feat for the group. What is most remarkable though is that they have truly moved forward from that release in little time at all and released an array of ambient beauties that, whilst reminiscent of their previous several albums, manages to be removed from prior work.

The most obvious reason for Fall’s uniqueness is the inclusion of vocalist Leona Prue, whose angelic voice takes All India Radio to another place. Every note that leaves Prue’s mouth sounds like it belongs amongst the orchestration itself and there are no moments that sound like the band were seeking approval by including Prue as an addition – her voice is simply belonging. Drawing from the trip hop genre appropriately, there are vocal qualities evocative of Roisin Murphy (Moloko) and Beth Gibbons (Portishead) that fit well amongst the orchestrations of strings, gentle percussion and bass lines. The album’s title track, as well as ‘Let Me Remain’ and ‘Endless Night’ are the clear standout numbers for Prue though, with her flawless vocals lifting toward the heavens as stories are told.

The band’s website has links to various bonus material that accompanies Fall (remixes and the like). Just to put Prue’s addition to All India Radio into perspective, there is one instrumental mix of the album’s opener ‘Far Away’. Listening to both, it almost creates a sense of two completely different tunes – with a focus on lyrics and vocals on the record, but shifting the focus on to the string arrangements on the download.

Aside from the newer additions to the sound, All India Radio return on Fall to their inclusion of electronic beats and arrays of strings and guitars. Original strengths return on Fall and the band ensure that they’ll attract the same attention as previous work with a similar approach to their instrumental segments. Haunting cello highlights the heavier ‘Persist’, whilst ‘Morning Drops II’ is a welcome quiet arrangement that takes the bare essential elements of All India Radio’s sound to create a gently mesmerising late interlude.

In 1999, All India Radio were a solo world music act and yet, after years of experimenting with new members and soundscapes, the now four piece have developed themselves into a divine collective that can genuinely call themselves artists. Hollywood have come knocking for use of the band’s work in the past and they’ve picked up numerous accolades back home, so Fall seems like the perfect contender to push the band even further into the spotlight of those in the know.