Eleven Women
by Steve Kilbey
REVIEWS and COMMENTS
Each track is unique, showcasing a different story and highlighting different musical elements from around the world. "Josephine" charms us with it's Celtic whimsicality. Beaming with emotion, there's a sense of longing throughout this track that makes it relatable. A few tracks later "Birdeen" comes in and flips the switch completely. There's a strength and fervency behind each strum of the guitar that sets the tone for this rock number.
As you continue to listen through Eleven Women you soon notice that no two songs are the same. This album presents such a wide range of diversity, talent, and knowledge. Even if you didn't know anything about Steve Kilbey's backstory you could listen to Eleven Women and know that this man is a musical veteran with a story to tell. And despite the range presented, Eleven Women still feels whole and cohesive.
This year already there have [been] two albums in collaboration with Gareth Koch, another with Kate Ceberano and now comes a solo album, Eleven Women. All the collaborations in which Kilbey has been involved over the past couple of decades have certainly helped him push his muse beyond the expected pop/rock reference points, but at the end of the day he's still the archetypal pop sponge; his love of '60s psychedelia and artists like The Beatles and Bowie with a dash of The Small Faces remains paramount, the more exotic elements absorbed providing quirky flourishes and whimsical embellishments — which makes for a very accessible and enjoyable classic record.
I was a little — what's the word? — trepidatious? coming to this. Steve — I call him Steve — hasn't really been on songwriting form for a while. But this is possibly his best solo album, like, ever. Colour me astonished, really. We've exchanged emails about it — I am Friend To The Stars — and he's chuffed with it (as much as he can be — he's the driest, slyest bloke I ever talked to), as he should be. Because songs. Not the usual mid-paced semi-ambient monotone stuff I was expecting. I think the democratic composition technique in the Church had led to songs-by-numbers. Here, he shows what he can do, and what he can still do. I was also concerned — that's the word I was looking for — that this was going to be an *ulp* "lo-fi production, which it ain't. Everything was done in a couple or three takes, and there's an energy here I haven't heard from him for decades. But it's not a punk album, it's beautifully produced without being polished to a gleaming shine.
If you're a fan, you'll be more of a fan after hearing this. If you're not, you'd probably enjoy this anyway. Hoorah!
Eleven Women is a new solo album from artist, Steve Kilbey. The songs feature some unique musical backings, which oscillate between melodically bright and broodingly mysterious. It's difficult to even characterize the overall tone. It's just very enigmatic and thought provoking.
The artist is best known as the singer-songwriter and bass guitarist from an Australian band called The Church. He's also a poet, writer and painter, which explains how these songs contain such fascinating and coherent narratives. He really hooks you in, and I found myself wanting to listen to this album multiple times to gain a deeper understanding of these women and their situations.
The album has an art-rock feel with a dry humour and Kilbey's superb voice at its core, displaying almost as many emotions and moods as the eponymous women themselves. It would be easy for something as conceptual and varied as this to become bloated and self indulgent - quite the contrary Eleven Women is an immediate and remarkably unpretentious affair that pulls you in from the first listen.
He's been a bit prolific of late, and with fellow cohorts Gareth Koch, Roger Mason and Barton Price, Mr. Kilbey heads back into the studio to deliver a whimsical, sometimes medieval and occasionally eccentric offering.
Poppy Byron kicks off with its yesteryear banter...Kilbey's trademark story-telling vox at the forefront.
Woman Number Nine ups the action with its almost 60s-etched affable romp, before the festive, slow castle courtyard dancing of Josephine gently wafts its way into proceedings.
The gorgeous, simple tones of Sheba Chiba keeps that warm affability flowing. Birdeen is a little more quirky, ahead of the slow, drilling madness of Lillian in Cerulean Blue.
Queen of Spades oozes retro, infectious cool with its sweet acoustic guitars and harmonies...one of my faves.
The bouncy, simplistic pop of Baby Poe is your happy little sing-along ditty, whilst Doris McAllister kicks off a little darker...march-along beats...desolate tales...
Down to the tail end of the eleven womanly tales, and Where Gloria Meets Rachel hints of more of that medieval edge...slow and deliberate...before Think of You (for Jessie Bellette) wraps it all up with its own tender acoustic beauty. More than a little special.
A must for Kilbey fans.
4-1/4 out of 5
"Eleven Women" is a coherent and strong record of alternately psychedelic folk and arcane pop songs that's less polished than the usual Church efforts - and sounds all the better for it. Loosely based on the concept of songs about 11 women, it's playful and instantly accessible - the sort of record that gets under the skin quickly and lends itself to repeated plays.
Steve Kilbey never expected to make Eleven Women this year - but this year hasn't exactly turned out to plan, has it? After initially planning to finalise a new album with The Church, the pandemic threw Kilbey's plans into disarray, and now, here we have Eleven Women: recorded over three days as a personal test for the prolific songwriter. Kilbey's third release this year, the record bears a certain cinematic quality that one should come to expect from Kilbey's songwriting, with songs like 'Josephine' and 'Queen of Spades' delivering shimmering guitars and sharpened songwriting. We don't think it's a coincidence that this record is arriving just days out from Father's Day, and we'd strongly urge you to pick up copy for your old man if you can.
★★★★☆ (4 stars out of 5)
Recorded over just three days, with little more than two takes making up each tune, the album is an exercise in the immediate, capturing both Kilbey and his accompanying musicians performing tracks while they're still fresh.
The result is one of the most pure records you'll find anywhere. From the opening notes of "Poppy Byron", it's apparent that Kilbey has delivered something transcendental; something that only someone with a musical dexterity and vision like he can provide.
Eleven Women is a document of the year that is, with Kilbey creating a record that is immediate, raw, rough, and above all, genuine. In no way would it be the same mesmerising listen that it is had each and every bar been laboured over for hours, sucking the life out of it, and replacing it with something so pristine and perfect that it lacks any semblance of reality.
Eleven Women is Steve Kilbey showcasing his worth as a powerful, prolific performer, and the Australian music scene has benefited greatly. While Kilbey notes he hopes to record more albums like this in the future, we can only hope that the wait for such a project will not be too long.