Pretty Boy Cross Over A Different Handwriting by: Kat Muscat Wed:28-Nov-07 Label: Year: 2007 WB rating 75 out of 100

The problem with talented people is often how hard they are to pin down. What some will call a frustrating inability to commit will be applauded by others as artistic diversity. We all know how easy it is to spread yourself too thin, but there are some musicians – especially in the indie scene – who refuse to say no to a new project, endangering themselves from burning out under all these musical demands. Two such Melbourne musicians are the essential foundations of Pretty Boy Crossover.

Starting out as one of Jason Sweeney’s many side projects, the Crossover as it now stands is a collaboration between Sweeney and fellow multitasking music/visual art fanatic Cailan Burns. The pair met in Adelaide during ’98 and have continuously made music together since, this despite sometimes being on opposite sides of state lines and occasionally even oceans. Both Sweeney and Burns’ are artists who will always have a current project list that would defeat the majority of us. Their collaboration provides an insight of what you get when you put two musical polygamists in a room – no joke or pun intended.  
 
Much like Crossover’s relaxed attitudes to their partnership and geographical constraints, their latest creation, A Different Handwriting, is an album that can be eased into. There are no sudden tempo or volume changes to catch the listener off guard and at times it’s even hard to differentiate between the bell-like beats, the chime of guitar or the melody around a buzzing baseline. This gives the album an organic feel, one lead by the band’s development of sound and song which seems somehow natural and interconnected.
 
A Different Handwriting is in one word: circular, as if it it’s in a constant journey to reach a resolution. Sweeney and Burns have not succumbed to the temptation of creating overly-complex or stylised music. The hints and highlights of each song are done with care and restraint, the result is a cohesive sound that is the album’s great charm. That’s not to say the album is bland. Songs like ‘Comfort Construct’ are about as self-aware as music can be without lyrics. And even in ‘Bruises’, which most heavily features the guest vocals of Vincent Giarrussa (formally of the Underground Lovers), the mood is largely defined by the sound, independent of the easily accessible meanings of words. 
 
Maybe it is a result of spending too long looking at Burns’ beautiful illustrations (a friendly monster on the back cover reminiscent of Snuffleuffigus from Sesame Street), but there is a sense of fantasy about the music. Its soft and pastel colours move in swirls and synth waves in the manner of surrealistic art. This artwork contributes to the feeling of loneliness that spreads throughout the album – one that is almost as constant at the record’s underlying sense of mood – only resolving with the optimistic closing note of ‘Before the Mountain Range’. 
 
On their sixth album, Pretty Boy Crossover have hit a thoughtful peak with a sustained and succinct album. It’s this unimposing and warm nature which is both a blessing and a curse, allowing the album to resonate well with those who slide easily into its reflective mood, but its lack of diversity is unlikely to grab those uninterested by its minimalist style.