This is the second time Holly Throsby has ambushed me at this time of year with a song that seems woven straight from the Australian summertime and all its feelings; last time - late 2011 - it was "What I Thought Of You", from Team, and this time round it's "Mountain", from her earlier-this-year (but I only picked it up recently) release After a Time.
In the past I've felt with Throsby that she can be perhaps too gentle, too quiet, to the extent that there's an ever present risk of losing the thread of her music when listening to a whole album end to end, and while there's a bit of that still here, for whatever reason I've found After a Time holding my attention much more firmly all the way through - it feels more emphatic and direct than Team or On Night, while still entirely delicate, subtle and mood-filled, and it's my favourite that I've heard of hers so far, filled with little details and rises that augment its hushed songs.
In the past I've felt with Throsby that she can be perhaps too gentle, too quiet, to the extent that there's an ever present risk of losing the thread of her music when listening to a whole album end to end, and while there's a bit of that still here, for whatever reason I've found After a Time holding my attention much more firmly all the way through - it feels more emphatic and direct than Team or On Night, while still entirely delicate, subtle and mood-filled, and it's my favourite that I've heard of hers so far, filled with little details and rises that augment its hushed songs.
