James Reyne

After the dissolution of the groundbreaking Australian Crawl, frontman James Reyne sustained the artistic trajectory he had forged during the closing phase of that group’s existence. Departing Australia allowed the Melbourne native to gather the creative fuel for his initial solo recording. Following a two-year period of global touring, Reyne launched his independent work in London, forging a style rooted in the Crawl’s approach yet distinguished by greater depth, breadth, and personal intensity. The outcome was the cinematic James Reyne, issued in Australia in 1987, a commanding statement that announced a fresh presence in popular music—one capable of traversing rock, country, folk, outback, poetic, and roots-infused realms without being confined by any of them. Three Australian Top Ten singles emerged from the set, and the record cultivated a devoted audience that led to an energetic tour alongside Tina Turner. Curiously, the American release occurred only after that tour had concluded, arriving nearly two years later with little impact.

Teaming again with longtime associate Simon Hussey, Reyne’s second album matched the domestic achievements of its predecessor while failing to register elsewhere. Hard Reyne yielded further chart-topping singles and triggered another sold-out Australian trek, yet never appeared outside the country. Consequently, Reyne broadened his circle of collaborators for the third record to encompass Jim Vallance, Bryan Adams’ longtime producer, and Louisiana maestro Tony Joe White. The resulting Electric Digger Dandy, issued in America as Any Day Above Ground, offered a strikingly fresh take on the sound of Reyne’s prior two albums. Retaining the urgent, edgy rock character of James Reyne, the lyrics grew markedly darker and more enigmatic, as in the lines “Dust on the bible/The man who waits behind your door/You can’t feel/You can’t score/Breathing on his face to make him real” from “Take a Giant Step.” This eccentric collection closed with Reyne’s reinterpretation of the Australian Crawl classic “Reckless,” underscoring that the same source had generated both the eclectic solo works and the earlier Crawl beach-oriented songs, much as Brian Wilson’s 1988 solo album had done.

A subsequent tour cemented Reyne’s status among Australia’s most significant and innovative artists of any era, after which the bush poet laureate further defied expectations by joining unconventional country performer James Blundell for an eccentric cover of the Dingoes’ “Way Out West” on Blundell’s This Road album. The charity single for the National Farmer’s Federation held the top chart position for an extended stretch, delivering meaningful aid during a time of severe droughts.

Following a two-year break and a shift to a new major label, Reyne revisited the disciplined songwriting of his solo debut on The Whiff of Bedlam, widely regarded as his most accomplished work to that point. Crafted under the guidance of radio-savvy Stuart Levine, the expansive set features some of Reyne’s sharpest compositions, with his edge integrated into the songs themselves rather than applied externally. Framed by the hit singles “Red Light Avenue” and “Day in the Sun,” Whiff also includes a poignant reading of Steely Dan’s “Only a Fool Would Say That.” Its centerpiece remains the evocative single “It’s Only Natural,” which wraps an indelible melody around surreal lyrics such as “Anglo-Reptilian/Wrist-watch radio titters/She waltzes her way through the aerodrome/Powdering conversation with pigeon-Indo/She catches her plane to petty, sun-white, two-tone heaven” and succeeds in making them cohere. The Whiff of Bedlam stands as a remarkable achievement, marking the endpoint of Reyne’s idiosyncratic progression from quirky pop craftsman to eclectic experimenter to seasoned balladeer while signaling an even more unpredictable path ahead. Reyne himself encapsulated his outlook in the Whiff track “No Secrets”: “I’ve seen all these faces/Between the mountains and the beach/Looking out for happiness/Out of reach/Cars and women/Running rich and fast/Driving down the freeway/This fun it won’t last…Gonna cross that bridge.” One can only anticipate what he encounters beyond it.