On his current tour, Josh Pyke has returned to where it all began eight years ago. Since that time, Pyke has not stopped evolving.
Evolution cannot occur without the passing of years, which is ironic because time has always been on Pyke’s mind. Josh Pyke first played at the Grace Emily as part of a tri-state residency, where he played gigs once a week for a month at venues in three separate states. In his first SA gig of the series, there were only ten people in attendance. By the final gig of the month, the venue was full.
Reminiscence is a consistent theme of his music, so it is no surprise he returned to a place that he has an emotional attachment. After all, the track that launched his fame, ‘Middle Of The Hill’, was all about his childhood home.
The passage of time has been a consistent theme in Pyke’s music, as demonstrated by the songs within his set list at Grace Emily (6 August). He has written about escaping the destiny contained within our palm lines (‘Lines On Palms’), yearned for a past summer (‘The Summer’) and titled an album ‘Memories And Dust’. On his new album, his fear of death and ageing is at the forefront.
Pyke’s only signs of ageing are sprinkles of grey within his ginger beard. Despite this, he played songs such as ‘Hollering Hearts’ that opens with the wish he doesn’t ‘die before [he] gets old’. On ‘Be Your Boy’ he again looks back to his childhood.
While the theme of time has remained consistent, his new album is a revelation. It features such lush and intricate instrumentation that it is a headphone listener’s dream. His latest tour, however, was a solo 'fans tour', so the aural splendour of his latest LP offering was only hinted at.
Pyke has steadily cultivated a devoted following over his career. His intimate and exclusive concerts for diehard fans are an important factor in influencing the size of his supporter base. As I watched female fans mouth the words of his songs, I also decided he sings to women the way they want to be sung to.
Finally, on stage he is a jovial and charismatic storyteller. This contrasts with his often dark, introspective and emotionally-laden lyrics. For one brief moment, however, he let the veil slip.
On the new album, ‘But For All These Shrinking Hearts’, there is a track called ‘Storylines', which is about the practice of Indigenous Australians passing their life stories to the next generation in the form of songs. When Pyke described his body of work as a chronology of his life for his two sons, tears almost sprung from his eyes. He quickly suppressed these and quipped “that’s not how I roll”. He quickly regained the carefree swagger, which is at odds with his sometimes tortured lyrics.
With his current tour, Josh Pyke is swelling the hearts of the faithful. With his album in the running to debut at number one in the charts, it is likely that when he returns with a full band, it will be greeted by an ever-growing throng.
He opened his career with such immense and immediate success and almost a decade later he shows no signs of stopping. It is possible that his new release will be his greatest triumph yet.
