Bad Advice
By Eileen Tilson
What do Portland, Ore. and Australia have in common? Both serve as the inspiration for duo Marvelann’s sophomore album Bad Advice. Written and recorded by founding members Simon Honisett and Jonathan Jubera, the album is a crafted compilation of dreamy pop recorded entirely in Jubera’s basement.
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Honisett moans through each song portraying his unmistakable yearning to return to his homeland. Eleven people play a variety of instruments on the album, including pedal steel, accordion, vibes and strings, providing the ethereal soundscape of the introspective Bad Advice. The CD is soft indie pop that shares a striking resemblance to Beck’s 2002 album Sea Changes but without the intricate emotion leaking through each note.
The fourth track on the album, “I Drove All Night,” provides a brief energetic interruption from the melancholy music, and the instrumentation on “The Shores” confirms the band’s craftsmanship, however, by the end of the album you cannot help but to wonder, and perhaps hope, that this effort is the biographical diary of the Honisett, and that a return trip to Melbourne might in fact be exactly what is needed to spark this duo’s ability to energize their listeners.
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