Steve Tyson – Green Side Up

CD review by Graham Blackley

Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, Steve Tyson, has had an exciting globe-trotting musical career.

For example, his band, Rough Red, has played in Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Estonia and France.

Recorded in Byron Bay, Tyson’s second solo album, “Green Side Up” opens with the slow-burning yet powerful and memorable track, “Ellen”, which features smoky vocals, a driving rhythm and a robust chorus.

From the fiddle driven, toe tapping, energy of “Cafes” to the effervescent folk-pop of “Tangled Vines”, this album covers a number of musical bases with aplomb.

One of the highlights of “Green Side Up” is the melancholy and beautiful “Lisboa”, spawned from a dream, and suitably ethereal in tone and execution.

The magnificent vocal interplay between Tyson and backing singer, Sarah Calderwood, encapsulates the yearning and loss so deftly conjured by the lyrics.