Nightjar

As guitarist with the Church, Marty Willson-Piper became an icon of Australian rock during the ‘80s and his fascination with late ‘60s-style folk and progressive-rock has been a reoccurring theme in his work. The same elements can be found once again in 2009’s Nightjar in somewhat reconfigured form. Willson-Piper has matured as an artist over the years; you can hear a grown-up yearning in “The Love You Never Had” and “I Must Have Fallen,” as well as an awakened sense of political outrage in “Song for Victor Jara.” The fractured observations in “More Is Less” and “Feed Your Mind” have an elusive Dylanish sort of wit. As on past albums, Willson-Piper emphasizes textured sonic atmospheres, suggesting the softer side of early Pink Floyd at times. “No One There” billows with gauzy guitar lines, while “A Game for Losers” waltzes along to a melancholy accordion. Brightly chiming folk-rockers like “Lullaby For the Lonely” and “High Down Below” display a tighter grasp on songwriting form. Nightjar contains enough good stuff to commend it to devotees of post-psychedelic pop.