The Hipstones: PRESS

THE HIPSTONES
Something’s Gonna Start
Independent

They might have forgotten it back in the USA but right here in Olde Sydney Town, the sweet soul sound that oozed out of artists as diverse as Smokey Robinson, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and The Commodores is alive and well and positively dripping out of the grooves of this collective.

Based around songwriters keyboards player Mark Palmer and singer Anthea White, The Hipstones bring together some of this city’s finest soul/funk players, adding their particular magic to the chilled out/sizzling punch of rhythm section bass player Victor Rounds and drummer Tim Firth, sugar-coated by the supple string and horn arrangements of jazz maestro Matt Ottignon and funkmeister himself, Jackie Orszaczky. They even manage to include the exotic sounds of the Middle Eastern lute or oud on It’s Gonna Be Good For You, courtesy of Joseph Tawadros, without it sounding too discordant.

Tonally White is closer to the glistening dulcet tones of local pop diva Abby Dobson than the edgy growl of the classic soul queens, but that merely adds an evocative ache to songs like Revolution, where Palmer also shows himself no slouch as a singer. Together, their harmonies are quite sumptuous and again, the pair draw on some of Sydney’s finest voices, among them Joy Yates and Virna Sanzone, to create as soulful a funkified (if perhaps a little more “polite”) vocal choir you’ll find anywhere this side of a Southern Baptist congregation. And then, just for fun, they throw in a cut each from Louis Prima, Elton John and the Gershwins.

MICHAEL SMITH
THE DRUM MEDIA 18 SEPTEMBER 2007

THE HIPSTONES
‘Something’s Gonna Start’
Album review


“Tackling soul, funk, and a little bit of rock, this Sydney, Australia nine piece has a real knack for writing modern songs with a vintage feel. Headed up by the core duo of Anthea White and Mark Palmer, this is a band that is flush with method and feeling, slinking and jamming through an hour of upbeat party songs, slower ballads, and smoother numbers that have a definite pop appeal to them. It's a wise diversity in sound that offers a bit of something for everyone, and really allows the band to open up and show their prowess as players. While some songs feature guitar heavily, others rely on string arrangements or tastefully devised horn parts that do a fantastic job of building off the initial structure of the song. This is all held together by Palmer and White, whose harmonies and melodies seem to really lead the way and push these songs along. Their voices meld well together, with each working off the other and neither overstepping their bounds. Like any good modern soul album, this one has a timeless feel to it, but it steps away from being a simple homage and instead treads a new path that makes it memorable in its own right.”

Brad Bush
Music Editor CD Baby
5 Star album review