Mark Cryle – Sideshow Alley

Mark Cryle – Sideshow Alley CD Review by Graham Blackley

Mark Cryle, an accomplished Australian singer/songwriter who also plays guitar, bass and mandolin, achieved great success with his 2009 album House of Cards which was crowned “CD of the Year” by Folk Alliance Australia. On his beautifully produced fourteen-track follow-up album Sideshow Alley, Cryle incorporates elements of country, folk and blues to create an earthy yet richly textured listening experience. Harnessing powerful wordplay and evocative instrumentation, Cryle achieves a visceral poignancy on thought-provoking tracks such as Eddie Gilbert’s Dream and The Paddy’s Day Bash. Cryle employs his deft songwriting skills on Kalgoorlie Girl to expertly toy with the listener’s expectations about where the tale is heading. Initially, the narrator appears to yearn for the love of his life: “Every night I dream about my Bonnie/I know she really wants me…” We infer from his adoring tone that these sentiments are romantic and that they are reciprocated: “I know she’ll be waiting for me/Just like she assured me…” In the closing scene, however, we discover that the narrator is detached from the romantic ideal, resigned as he is to the reality of trading dollars and cents for lust and a fleeting physical connection. The absent Bonnie is “pleased to know ya” as long as “you got cash” while the narrator is like a shopper willing to snap up a new product when his favoured trinket is out of stock: “If she’s gone, I don’t really bother/’Cos I can get another Kalgoorlie Girl.” Such clever songwriting, marked with unexpected twists and turns, imbues the album with a subtle and imaginative depth that complements the seductive melodies woven by Cryle and his impressive cast of guest musicians. Sideshow Alley, populated with believable characters and alive with memorable music, will entice you to visit time and time again.