Tony Eardley – Desire Lines

Tony Eardley’s long awaited debut album combines his poetic song writing and warm vocals with richly textured accompaniment from a swag of fine Australian musos, to create a satisfying and varied mix of strong narrative and emotional depth.

CD REVIEW – by Jane Harding

Tony Eardley is well known to the musical community through his participation in such well known NSW choirs as Ecopella, the Solidarity Choir and The Spooky Men’s Chorale.

With Desire Lines, he makes his first foray into the world of solo recording.
But he’s had lots of very well-directed assistance with the group of musicians supporting him reading like a Who’s Who of NSW folk – Marcus Holden, Liz Frencham, Christine Wheeler, Gregg Telian and Caroline Trengrove just to mention a few.

Desire Lines has been many years in the making.
But it has been well worth the wait, being a slickly crafted, very European sounding recording – smooth, sweet, and mellow, with Tony’s pleasant reedy baritone gently beguiling the listener in a journey down the corridors of memory and dream.

But don’t let that fool you, there’s some strong social messages embedded in many of these offerings – a bit of meat on the bone for those who require it in their musical diet.
Many of the stories told on the CD are drawn from Tony’s life in the UK before he emigrated to Australia, notably “Portugal Beach”, “On Days like These” and “It’s Alright”.

The tracks “Taken” and “Come Away With Me” are instantly recognizable from earlier recordings by Touchwood and Ecopella.
My favourite track on the album is his song “Portugal Beach” – almost the archetypal recollection of summer by the sea – and Tony has done a fine job on his reinterpretation of Ian Telfer’s “Finisterre”. I also love “Elegy/Davey”.

The untimely loss of a friend is handled with great sensitivity and respect.
If you’re looking for something very listenable that conceals a steel fist of strong social commentary within its velvety folds, you’ll enjoy this recording.