Despite any first impressions, Winston and Goldstein is not some sort of folk-duo reincarnation of Simon and Garfunkel, but the solo “alternative insanity pop” project of young musician Jacqueline Collyer. As a Dutch-Australian now based in jolly old England, Collyer dishes up a majestic mix of influences as equally vast and unique as her background, like a meat pie and fish and chips served in a clog.
If you ever wanted Simon and Garfunkel to be reincarnated with an experimental synth sound, then Winston and Goldstein is the answer to your dreams.
Cutting her teeth in Brighton-via-Melbourne tropical indie outfit Kins, Collyer added her keys and guitar abilities to the melodramatic troupe. She soon went out on her own, looking to create a darker sound and delving into more ethereal realms. After teasing the musicsphere with first single Ode to a Massive Obsession, she escaped to rural England to record and produce her debut album In the Eyes of the Other, released at the start of July.
Her world of intimate ambience opens up with Really Go, a desperately eerie, seven-minute amalgamation of suspenseful loops, playing out like the soundtrack for a Hollywood thriller. Not to be outdone, Jealousy brings a similarly rich soundscape with obscure and inconsistent ping-pong- like percussion, and the first taste Collyer’s virtuous, self-harmonizing voice. Mixing in sounds of the everyday into brief instrumentals, Work incorporates the blips and bleeps that will hit close to home for any office worker, whereas Golden Child is mostly dark piano play.
Ode to a Massive Obsession epitomises the contrasts that litter the album, where the crisp percussion is striking against echoed, commanding vocals. Collyer notes that the standout track is mostly about wanting to break through to the “music world” she previously felt outside of, as well as “the end of a long term relationship and the beginning of a new one”. Bonegilla changes up the vibe once more, where bongos meet an 80’s video game beneath busy, layered vocals. The lyrics slide into the indeterminable – or possibly Latin – on Non Omnis Moriar (The Dead Can), floating over a brooding mood before a quirky electro outro.
When I Finally Meet You introduces piano-accordion-esque synth that is met with dark, bassy string notes. Halfway through, everything stops abruptly and is abutted against delicate glockenspiel sounds. The dark bass returns to turn the childlike feel into something more menacing. Save My Family features harps, more traditional guitar riffs and wandering bassline, before another seven- minute exploration, In the Sea of Desire, echoes the collection into the distance to the beat of jungle percussion.
Winston and Goldstein’s debut is lathered with loops and layers of sounds, ranging from the conventional to more peculiar electronics. Brooding beneath gorgeous, dominating vocals, it’s as if Oliver Tank abducted London Grammar. An ephemeral odyssey that often strays on the side of the darker and experimental; it is a truly impressive feat of production. Whilst deep in the throes of this debut, we can’t wait to hear more from Collyer, hopefully as a return to Australian stages.
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