Album Review: Selfie

I am heading to Seattle later this year. Yeah, a work trip, but for me it’s a bit of a musical pilgrimage. The 1990’s and the Grunge scene, in particular, are where some of my best music-related memories were created. Music soundtracks our lives, and certain times and certain scenes get woven into the fabric of those special moments. At the time, in the moment, everything is a blur of excitement, energy, and emotion, but as I have grown older, I have learned to look back. Learned how to connect the dots from bands that influenced me at School, through the 80’s, into the 90’s and how, as I have become a bit older, wiser, bitter, cynical, hopeful, I have come to associate my memories with certain musical scenes. I can also see how certain bands influenced the sounds of the bands I listen to now.

Many bands will never admit to being part of a scene. Well, the bands that are worth listening to at least. As a musician, you never want to be part of a scene; you want to be the outsider, be genuinely independent, and unique.

Very few bands achieve that. Very few bands can be seen as trailblazers

New Zealand has a strong indie/alternative heritage. I will never forget the first time I heard John Peel play Straight Jacket Fits on Radio One. I was still at school. Rushed out, bought the album. It wasn’t until decades later, when I moved to NZ, that I found out they were from Dunedin. Dunedin had a scene, one that resonated around the world.

Older is another band carrying a torch for that great NZ indie/alternative heritage, but by sticking to making music for themselves, they are managing to add to that heritage rather than just being a part of it.

Their latest album, Selfie, is a collection of songs written over the past 30 years that they didn’t feel were a good fit for their previous albums.

You would expect such a diverse collection of songs written over a long period to feel somewhat disjointed. Maybe even a bit dated.

The reality is that with Selfie, Older has created something special. Something that stands out even from their other material.

This collection of musical black sheep shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because these songs didn’t fit with the other stuff.

This collection of 12 songs on Selfie feels fresh and engaging. Julie has a timeless and ageless voice, and the influences are clearly not just from those halcyon Dunedin indie times. Selfie kicks off with the carnival- and theatrical-themed Showtime, an opener that intrigues. The perfect start.

There are twists and turns. The energy is there throughout, especially on tracks like Mr Breezy and the Ska tinged Wasted. All the musical influences are on show, but they are just the key ingredient here. There is so much more. Each listen will take you on a different journey. I found songs like Moment In The Sun taking me in a different direction each time I listened. On one listen, I even had it running through my mind as being potentially a great Rave tune. This album needs to be listened to repeatedly. It gives more and more each time.

Listening to Selfie is like looking through someone’s photo albums and getting snapshots of moments in their life. Transmorphing those moments, those stories, into your moments, adding to the soundtrack of your life. This is the beauty of music.

Joy is the ultimate feeling I am left with as I finally switch off.

With Selfie, Older has created a classic. A collection of songs that spans years of observing, feeling, daring to be individual, whilst staying focused on the here and now.