If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the last few years, you may be familiar with the Melbourne, Australia-based quartet Husky. They’ve had the kind of success that people would immediately refer to as “overnight success” after winning Triple J’s Unearthed Contest – and as a result they found themselves playing some of Australia’s biggest music festivals, including The Push Over Festival. Naturally, that kind of exposure quickly catapulted the then-nationally known band’s profile, internationally as they opened for Devendra Banhart, Noah and the Whale, The Shins, and their fellow countryman Gotye.
After several months of writing songs, the band spent some time learning how to soundproof rooms, found a bunch of old recording gear and set off to an abandoned bungalow located near frontman Husky Gawenda’s house to record what would be the band’s stunningly gorgeous, deeply introspective and incredibly self-assured debut effort, Forever So which was released in 2012 to critical praise internationally; including landing at number 11 on that year’s JOVM Best of List.
Just a few months ago the Australian quartet quietly released their sophomore effort Ruckers Hill and the album has started to receive attention with the release of album single “Saint Joan,” a rumination on both the redemptive power of love and learning how to let go and move forward. The album’s latest single “Arrow” manages to pair Gawenda’s dreamy falsetto singing rather mournful lyrics with a gorgeous folk melody – the sort of melody that subtly channels Simon and Garfunkel but with a cinematic quality that gives the song a larger-than-life quality. And yet, at its core is a hard-fought intimacy as the song openly talks about faith and love in a way that superficial, contemporary music sadly shies away from.
