The teenage years are typically rebellious: sex, drugs and rock and roll are de rigeur. Jack Colwell took things a step further, rebelling against the expectations of his generation by falling in love with medieval music. Already likened to everyone from Tori Amos and Bjork to Nick Cave and Patrick Wolf, the precocious Colwell is finally releasing his songs from his living room.
Raised in Sydney's northern beaches (a fact that is he is not at all pleased with) on a soundtrack of Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones, Colwell began learning piano at age five. He added the bass guitar and the double bass to his repertoire before the age of ten, and has since picked up the ukulele, organ and often found to be trading in the piano for the harpsichord. A place at Sydney's prestigious Conservatorium of Music High school gave Colwell six years of composition lessons and choir practice (along with a penchant for ditching non-musical classes). Eventually joining the SBS Youth Orchestra and touring Macau, 18-year-old Colwell (like so many before him) has sidestepped his promising classical career to invade the world of pop music with his stupefying talent.
The end result is Colwell's debut EP White Noise: often strange, sometimes frightening but always stunning, the EP is a dramatic suite of songs that combine Colwell's classical abilities with his love of pop music. Bursts of static and gypsy beats ensure White Noise sounds unlike anything else produced in Australia. The creepy and campy cabaret of Rat-A-Tat-Tat, the epic defiance of 3 Ravens, the perverted electronic brilliance of the title track: the EP is as diverse as Colwell's musical interests.
- Liam Casey
