Jason Freddi’s Dreaming Australia is a nine song collection quite unlike anything else you’ll hear this year. There may be some trepidation on the listener’s behalf diving into a work that, on its surface, seems so tethered to the Australian experience. Plumbing deeper into the work, however, reveals songs and lyrical craft that extend far past the borders of the island-bound nation and speaks to universal, rather than national, experiences. Attentive listeners will discover all sorts of relevant antecedents in their own culture and humanity. The music, as well, has a certain amount of exotic flavor, but Freddi grounds it in recognizable structures and instrumentation. It isn’t a world music release, though the Australian musical influences are certainly strong.
“Water to Drink” definitely draws from Australian experiences in its lyrics. The portrayal of water rights and Freddi bracingly depicts the ongoing controversy, just or unjust, facing the nation’s culture. Freddi’s writing does an exquisite job of straddling a line between the conversational and poetic without ever erring too far in a particular direction. The song’s vocal melody is one of his best tools for conveying the song’s message and his unusual, yet atmospheric singing is another key ingredient.
He covers the famed Australian rock band Goanna’s “Solid Rock” with notable success. It’s far from a literal note-for-note cover as he transposes Goanna’s early 80’s rock leanings into an acoustic framework, but Freddi’s vocals and his arrangement serve the underrated classic well. It’s another song tethered tight to Australian identity without ever closing itself off to other experiences. The humanity at the heart of the song is beyond reproach. Freddi cuts his original “The Convict’s Lament” from a similar cloth. The song’s a ballad, as its title implies, and firmly set within an Australian framework, but anyone who appreciates songs as character studies in miniature and superb musical backing will enjoy this track.
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One of the more spartan moments on the release, “A Bushman Can’t Survive on City Lights” is a cover of John Williamson’s classic that’s a largely faithful rendition illustrating Freddi’s profound respect for the original. The vocal interpretations differ, obviously, but not radically so. Freddi, however, does communicate the same emotions running through Williamson’s take on the song albeit with an additional beset quality that the latter lacked in his version. Freddi’s greatest strength as a singer is his ability to evoke profound emotions from the full gamut of his material.
Pairing “Dreaming Australia Now” and the traditional “Waltzing Matilda” is a stroke of imaginative genius. The two songs’ lyrical points of view are unique mirror images of one artist’s views about national identity in a way that no other duo of songs could have likely accomplished on this release. The former is a much leaner, stripped-down performance than the latter, stylish without ever sounding superficial, and his take on the stalwart “Waltzing Matilda” is equally rewarding thanks to the sensitivity he lavishes on the vocal. Dreaming Australia is a watershed moment in Jason Freddi’s musical journey – his first solo album establishes his credentials as a formidable songwriter and interpreter beyond any question.
Heather Savage
