“You’re only here because of everything your people survived.”
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A $150,000 ‘executive protection dog’? Rich L.A. homeowners are snapping them up. Los Angeles Times. Resilc: “USA USA = rich ‘hoods of El Salvador.” Moi: A dog is a dog and can be shot or poisoned. But this will establish a residential market for those horrible robot dogs
Jen Cloher, I Am The River, The River Is Me
★★★★½
A celebration of culture and self is at the heart of Jen Cloher’s fifth solo album. There’s a gentleness to I Am The River, The River Is Me, but a steadfastness, too, as the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter communicates the truths of their existence as a queer Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu Māori person, and the places where those markers of identity intersect.
Dreams and life collide on this beautiful record which, true to its title, feels like a relaxed downstream journey. It stands in contrast to the ferocity of their last release, 2017’s excellent self-titled album, which largely took aim at the toxicity of the music industry – Shoegazers was a masterclass in excoriation – and explored Cloher’s romantic partnership with fellow musician Courtney Barnett, which ended in 2018.
There’s a greater spirituality here, as Cloher unpacks both their culture and the world around them through these thoughtful songs. The title track, on which they contemplate their love for and bond with the environment in the face of ecological collapse, is especially moving: “Wrote a song for you ’cause I know you’re trying / on a planet that you love that you know is dying”. Many of these songs are addressed to this “you”, making it feel especially intimate: is Cloher talking to the listener or to themselves, or is she in conversation with both – with everyone?
Need more proof that Jen Cloher is one of our finest songwriters? Here it is
Guy Sebastian ordered to hand over CCTV in feud with neighbour