Ned Collette Future Suture by: Ed Butler Tue:04-Dec-07 Label: Dot Dash Year: 2007 WB rating 83 out of 100

Singer-songwriters are a lot like a glass of scotch. There are those that are much more like a neat glass, or perhaps on the rocks. They’re bare bones, nothing more to see (or hear, or taste, you get the metaphor). Trimmings are kept to a minimum, and the flavour of the drink is allowed to remain at the forefront of the imbibers' considerations. On the other hand, there are those who are far more like a scotch and coke, or some other ubiquitous mixer. They may make the initial gulp more palatable, but in the end only serve to minimise the distinguished connoisseur's grasp on the alcohol's true essence. Only the finest of mixers can serve to actually enhance one's overall enjoyment.

Melbourne's Ned Collette (of City City City when not playing the balladeer) is very much a member of the former group. With his whirring, buzzing voice, he is (to extend the metaphor perhaps a touch too far) an acquired taste. In which case, he is in good company among other vocally-challenged singers such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul Kelly and Leonard Cohen, all of whom paired lyrics poetic and polemic with often simple, unadorned arrangements to deliver songs of occasional and exquisite beauty. Collette's voice is most definitely an instrument designed to be served straight up, and while it can be a little noxious going down, it certainly leaves a warm feeling in your belly by the time you've swallowed, as much for what is sung as how it is sung.

Future Suture is Collette's second album, and is a quantum leap forward in terms of confidence and depth from 2006's Jokes & Trials. Collette's hazy quasi-baritone flirts routinely with inaudibility between killer lyrics. "I don't want to die", he states plainly on 'Show Your Hand', allowing the listener a moment of morbid reflection before offering the addendum "in a foreign place/Or disappear without a trace", bringing the focus back to the music at hand. It is this wisdom in the intricacies of lyrical delivery that is as effective as the words themselves, which are as open and honest as the music is stark and lush in equal measure.

As with many solo performers, the second effort sees Collette embracing a greater level of instrumentation in the production process, and as such he is joined on Future Suture by his City, City, City bandmates, including Joe Talia (drums) and Ben Bourke (bass). Following the stripped-back introduction of "First Love", "Sell Your Life" is a gloriously orchestral number. Built on the back of a gently repetitive guitar/bass interplay, with gradually swooping strings and vocal harmonies backing them up, it is by far the best song on the album. Which is not to say that the other songs are no good.

One of the more experimental forays on Future Suture is 'Winter Holiday', a slow, meandering, almost funereal piece, Collette's vocals drenched in reverb, while positively schizophrenic, almost free-form jazz percussion gradually makes its presence felt, before the track fades to a Wilco-esque electric hum. Hearing artists who spent their youth toting a guitar around Melbourne's live scene come out with something so ambitious is heartening indeed.

While many of the nine tracks on Future Suture have a tendency to run overlong (the album clocks in at a solid 50 minutes), suggesting the need for an independent producer (Collette shared production responsibilities with Talia), this release sees an enormous leap forward in songwriting confidence, with Collette pushing his writing into unexpected territory, offering wonderful new vistas with each track. Closing on 'Race, which wraps things up with a big, cacophonous guitar solo backed by judiciously placed horns, perhaps he provides an indication of things to come; a beefier, ballsier Ned Collette may be on the horizon, with a few more singalongs in him. But for now, a dark, folksy solo bard he remains, and is truly gratifying to the refined palette.