By Henry Lipput
Steve Smith has been a staple of the Sydney music scene for over 30 years. With his band Fallon Cush he has released five full albums, the last being 2019’s Stranger Things Have Happened.
And then things went quiet.
At the beginning of 2020 Smith
suffered a breakdown that left him with crippling anxiety, He stopped working,
becoming increasingly isolated, and barely picked up a guitar.
I wasn’t aware of any of this
when earlier this year I reviewed “Grain of Salt,” the second single from the new Fallon Cush Tricks
EP. It seemed to me the lyrics were an ask for help during a difficult time
from someone who has cried wolf or misled a friend too many times. It didn’t sound
anything like an ask for help from its author, but it certainly sounds like that now.
However, the lyrics for Smith’s
latest single from the new EP, “I’m Trying,” are in the first person: “The
anxiety won’t subside/But I’m trying/To break free.” The sound is a bit more
upbeat than the first two singles with Smith and producer/multi-instrumentalist
Josh Schuberth giving it more of a full band sound; it’s as if the full
strength of Fallon Cush and Steve Smith are right around the corner. It’s certainly
a positive sign for the future.
You can pre-order the Tricks EP and you’ll get three of the five singles (“Hang On To Me,” “Grain Of Sand,” and “I’m Trying”).
