The Music: "Up Down Up" is a slab of layered, lush melancholic pop by Australian pop maestro Chris Mason. A beautifully crafted longplay that soars and dives with each new track, moving through land-scapes of shoegaze bliss rock to gentle melancholic acoustica. This is undeniably engaging pop that leaves an impression long after the last chord is struck.
From the anthemic shoegaze pop of "Better" (the first single released off the album), to the down and drugged waltz of "Drowning", to the gentle acoustic zen melancholia of "Running", the album manages to embrace and distill all that is good about indie guitar pop while carving its own special space.
The album continues the lineage of the fine indie singer songwriter guitar pop that has come out of this country of late. Music that manages to infuse itself with a unique and innate Australian feel while never being cliched or obvious.
In recent recognition of the album's strength, "Up Down Up", was chosen as one of the "Left of Centre Slices of Brilliance" in iTunes Australia's January 2007 Indie Singer/Songwriter Spotlight.
The album saw its original release in May 2006 and is now available from all good online stores includ-ing iTunes, eMusic, Sony Connect and the HSR Store.
The Man: It was inevitable, really. From a family of musicians (father, brother, uncountable sisters) ...another musician. Treading the path most trodden, taking the easy decision into a life of creative de-spair and financial ruin. No, really...
Chris Mason, solo artist, locked in the studio for quite some time but finally emerging with an album that, to his perfectionist mind, was good enough for other people to hear. Writing, arrangements, production, and instrumentation all sweated over. This album is the result of an auteur's touch.
With an ep currently in production and a string of live shows set for 2007, the story continues and begins to look more interesting with each passing episode.
Website
http://music.hiddenshoal.com/artists/chris-mason/
Band Members
Chris Mason
