The Sleepy Jackson have garnered a reputation for creating powerful epic pop over the last few years. For his latest single ‘God Lead Your Soul’, the first off new album ‘Personality-One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird’, Australian main man Luke Steele has assembled an arsenal of nine other players including guitarists, keyboardists, piano and synth players and backing singers, and also an orchestra. And therein lies the problem. ‘God Lead Your Soul’, with its silken vocal harmonies, lush guitars and sumptuous brass and string arrangements, packs too much into his three and a half minute running time. Ideas are not allowed to grow organically, and, with too much going on too quickly, it all sounds a bit of a mess. There is undoubtedly a decent tune waiting to get out underneath it all, but it is all drowned out by its bombastic over production. 'God Lead Your Soul’ is by no means a bad record. The playing is certainly accomplished, but, with no hook for its listener to hold onto, it is, as soon as it has reached its lavish end, instantly forgettable.
Track Listing:-
1 God Lead Your Soul2 Got To Get Moving
3 (Just Like) Starting Over
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Dave Barbarossa - Interview
Sukie Smith - Interview
Kim Wilde - Photoscapes
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart