Album Review: Chelsea Wilson - Chasing Gold

Roughly 5 years ago Chelsea Wilson released her stellar debut album I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me. The release of this album coincided with the beginning of my "career" (and I use this term VERY loosely) as a DJ playing tunes in local bars around Melbourne town. At the time, my collection of Vinyl records that you could dance to was very limited and I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me had more than a few danceable tunes on it so I used it A LOT! At the risk of sounding like I am exaggerating, I lost count of the amount of times someone come up to me while spinning this record to ask "who is this?" If that isn't the sign of a quality release/artist I don't know what is.
Fast forward to 2019 and Chelsea's sophomore album Chasing Gold has finally been unleashed onto the world. Chasing Gold is a very different animal to I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me which is immediately evident from the moment you hear the (sublime) Golden Age of Hollywood Movies style strings that introduce the album. While both albums are designed to get you shaking your booty on the dance floor Chasing Gold owes more to 70's Disco/Funk/Boogie than it's predecessor which was straight out Melbourne style Soul music. Over the years Disco has had more than it's fair share of critics and while some would say deservedly so, just as many would say the opposite. Listening to this album there's no doubt as to which side of the argument Chelsea is supporting as she unashamedly embraces the genre causing even the hardest Disco critic to reconsider their stance. The biggest compliment however that can be paid to this album is that it contains some of the finest examples of "songcraft"  (a term which gets bandied about far too frivolously for my money). The attention paid to the songwriting and arrangements of these 9 songs is evident and the results are there for all to see. I expect this album to garner many more "who is this?" comments from Melbourne pub goers once I finally get my paws on a copy. In the words of one reviewer on the bandcamp.com website "Loving this! More please... a lot more!"
P.S. The addition of the song "Word Is Out" as a bonus track is the perfect homage to one of Chelsea's musical heroes Kylie Minogue and a great way to round out the album

Live Review: Women Of Soul Album Launch

                                                Women Of Soul @ Shadow Electric
                                                          Saturday 11 Apr 2015

Wowzers! Just... Wowzers! What can I possibly say about this night? I knew this was gonna be a good show but... goddam this was a GOOD show. This is not the 1st time I have been to a Women of Soul gig (and it will most certainly not be the last) . Each one I have attended has been no less than great but they really outdid themselves this time around.

For the uninitiated a Women Of Soul show is a revue style performance whereby each vocalist sings 2 or 3 songs backed by the same group of musicians. Christina Perfection of the Perfections kicked off proceedings and practically tore the roof off the venue with her banshee like vocal stylings. Once everyone was whipped into a frenzy after Christina’s performance you could be forgiven for thinking “how the hell is anyone else going to follow THAT?!” Well the great thing about a W.O.S. show is that each singer has their own distinct style which all tie in perfectly with each other so there’s no need for anyone to try to top or compete with the previous performer.

As with the Women Of Soul album the show was the perfect balance between funky and danceable numbers and heartbreaking ballads and it was great to see/hear these songs come to life in a live setting. Any attempt at pointing out highlights from the show would be an exercise in futility seeing as, with a production of this caliber, the whole show is a highlight. Each and every one of these singers is a great talent in their own right which is proven by the fact that they each lead their own bands.

It should also be mentioned that the band backing the singers on the night were seriously smoking. Made up of some of Melbourne’s finest they were one finely tuned machine playing the songs as if they had been playing them for years. 5 years on and things are only just getting started for Women Of Soul. Big things are afoot for these ladies catch them now while you can and before they start selling out major venues around town.