- On Weathered Straight (likely to be the only cosmic R&B/future garage EP from an Australian indie-rocker you'll hear this month) what Charles Murdoch lacks in innovation he makes up for by delivering four sweet-natured, downbeat vocal numbers. "Why" indulges in too much Burialism on its womb-like vocals, but its half-march of loping beats and throbbing melody just about holds your attention. On "Dekire," he mixes Machinedrum-style synths with soupy, sundown electronica, á la Washed Out. "Light Words VAO" is a rather too brief bout of ambient dream pop, before the pitch-shifted vocals and whiffs of chillwave return on "No Lungs."
As a first foray into electronica, Weathered Straight is just shy of promising, but there's enough here to suggest that if Murdoch finds his voice, he could head somewhere interesting.
TracklistA1 Why
A2 Dekire Feat. Oscar Key-Sung
B1 Light Words Vao Feat. Steffaloo
B2 No Lungs