The Sirens of Venice - Self-titled

From the depths of Melbourne come The Sirens of Venice, headed by husband and wife duo Craig and Camilla Jackson. The self-titled debut from the outfit firms up as a haunting and interesting effort as Max Easton writes.

Listen while you read:

Please download Flash to view this audio player.

Please download Flash to view this audio player.

The Sirens of Venice is a curious album. Here's a record that I was moved to listen to over and over again to try to figure it out, but on recollection, couldn't remember anything about it. So I suppose that literally, it's a forgettable album. But, if that's really the case, then why is it still in my CD player? 

The Sirens of Venice is the brainchild of Camilla Jackson and husband and Gersey front-man Craig Jackson. Together and under the production of Vince Giarruso and Jed Palmer, they've crafted 15 tracks of dark atmosphere over playful and haunting melodies. There's a depth to the sound of the record which is entirely alluring and is an absolute credit to all who worked in its creation. One of its greatest achievements is its consistency, resulting in that all-too-rare sensation of a true album rather than a collection of tracks. But maybe that's what makes it such a challenge to walk away from with it on your mind. The end result may well be the merging of it all into the one continuous memory, and the memory I had after each listen was always glowingly positive.

However, there aren't really any highlights to speak of. The album is great...but why? I've got no idea. That's a pretty weak line coming from someone who's supposed to be writing about it, but there's little that stands out above the rest of the album to grab you and follow you around. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but for any good album I've ever listened to before, there was always something particular about it that made me come back...the only thing that has me coming back to The Sirens of Venice again and again is trying to figure out why I can never remember anything about it. And that is absolutely bizarre.

With all things considered though, The Sirens of Venice is a great album. With Craig Jackson's vocals evoking sounds of The Panics and occasional moments like 'Now I Feel The Weight' reminiscent of Lamb, the influences and similarities that shower the record are damn good. At times it sounds like everything you'd want from this type of album and there wasn't a single time that I listened to this with anything but pleasure...but there's still something very, very strange going on psychologically which has me struggling to describe it without it playing in the background. I've got no idea what that means, but it's good, it's great and it's most definitely something you'd be happy with getting your hands on.

The self-titled debut by The Sirens of Venice is out now on Speak N Spell through Inertia.