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Plucked harps, guitar climaxes, and retro, European disco. Sonically rich and impressively realised: Harvest Of Gold is the highly anticipated debut album from Melbourne’s Gossling, 10 tracks of gorgeous pop songcraft, the gifted musicianship of singer/songwriter Helen Croome.
With Gossling’s boundless talent and that dreamy, startling voice, Harvest Of Gold marks the arrival of undoubtedly one of the best Australian releases. “Hopefully with this album the people who’ve only heard my singles will realise the extent of my songwriting,” says Helen, who signed to Dew Process in September 2012 following three acclaimed independent EPs: 2009 debut If You Can’t Whistle, 2010’s Until Then, and 2012’s Intentional Living. “I want listeners to stick with me as an artist, and enjoy the progression I’ve made.”
Harvest Of Gold was recorded in May 2013 at The Shed Studios in Canterbury, VIC, with producer John Castle (The Bamboos, Vance Joy, Washington). Helen – who switched her psychology/sociology studies at university to a Bachelor of Music (Composition) – wanted to capture her brand new songs in their full technicolour. “I love cinematic stuff,” she says. “My heart is in that style. I didn’t want to lose that.” Castle had recorded two tracks on Intentional Living. “We just gelled. I didn’t want to put any expectations or lock myself into something by saying, ‘This is the kind of album I want to make,’ and he got that. John was a big fan of using my demos too, plus he works really quickly.”
Front and centre across the LP is Gossling’s magical voice – used to devastating effect on the heart-wrenching “Vanish”. Written in response to the death of Jill Meagher, Helen’s vocals were recorded at home, the intimate take capturing the effect the tragedy had on the singer. “I was angry for a long time,” says Helen, of lines like, “Should we see what he wrote on her face?”. “The security footage… I was affected by the fact that we saw some of her last moments. It was good it was put out there, but it also felt wrong, intrusive.”
The Fat Angel Sings 