Martin Frawley: The Wannabe

On the back of Australia’s jangle renaissance over the last two decades, Martin Frawley has been a key figure.

First rising to prominence at the backend of the ’00s as leader of Melbourne favourites the Twerps, from up and down Australia’s East Coast, things have mutated in different forms and guises since, and while always renowned for the breezy, immediate soundscapes, recently has seen a country inflection creep into the realms (see Terry), reaffirming jangle’s pertinence and modest charm.

The thing about jangle is the unpretentiousness about it; many of its participants originating from regional areas of Australia before making the move to the big smoke. The recent inclusion of country-inspired leanings both in image and sound intersect the past with the present, making it highly relatable to listeners.

A little bit longer in the tooth and suffering from the usual bumps and scrapes we all experience throughout this life, Frawley gets contemplative on his wonderful new solo LP, The Wannabe.

Following 2019’s Undone at 31, which saw Frawley grappling with the past a little bit more, The Wannabe sees Frawley a little more comfortable in his own skin. There’s plenty of room for self-deprecation and blending the themes of loss (Frawley, the son of the late underground icon, Maurice Frawley, who collaborated with the likes of fellow Australian legends Paul Kelly and Tex Perkins), there’s also a piercing intuition into how art continues to be devalued in the modern age of capitalism.

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Backed by Melbourne veterans, Dan Kelly, Dan Luscombe (The Drones), Steph Hughes (Boomgates, Dick Diver) and Nik Imfeld (Tyrannaman), Frawley gives us a series of beautifully crafted reflective sketches throughout the lens of a life.

“You’ve got to be positive, everything is possible,” he sings on the album’s eponymous track, which is the most anthemic thing to come out of Melbourne since Courtney Barnett’s Depreston. Jam-packed with humour and turns of phrases that rifle off the page (“I’m the wannabe / A half-arsed musician that no one wants to see / Drink driving down the M3/ Working all day trying to forget about the old me”), The Wannabe is like the sun exploding through the window, reaching ever corner of the room.

Circling back, and opening encounter, This is Gonna Change, sets out the stalls. A beautiful countrified number peppered with instant riffs and melodies (“This is gonna change your mind/ Nothing’s gonna turn back time).

The bouncy twang of True Blue leads in to the gorgeous Lola. With soft acoustics and sweet guitar noodlings, Lola has the kind of sunroof sway for long distance jaunts in solitude where you can just breathe and cleanse the mind from the everyday bullshit.

Then there’s the saccharine Heart in Hand. Bursting with a keyboard-led melody that rivals The Wannabe (“You’re just one more kid losing grip on what you’ve worked for / And here I stand with my heart in my head / No place I’ve known has been this sad, my friend”), thematically the two aren’t a world away from one another.

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While Proud finds Frawley in a straight-talking reflective mood likened to Robert Forster’s recent works, the virtuous swoon of Assumptions and sweet atmospheric echoes of Slip Away slowly lead us to the straight-from-the heart balladry of I Wish Everyone Would Love Me. “I wish everyone would known me /Then maybe you would know me too” purrs Frawley, and over a lovely piano line, this is one of the most honest songs out of Australia all year.

And in another watershed moment, Given Everything is up there with one of the finest closing tracks to have met the ear in some time. (“Gonna hideaway out of sight / You won’t find me in a bar tonight / ’Cos I’ve given everything to the one I love”). With a little bit of Dylan reverence and Nicky Hopkins-inspired keys to boot, it’s yet another highlight from an album that boasts many.

So much so that The Wannabe is almost too infectious, and one of those records that you’re sometimes afraid to overplay in fear of it losing its sheen. However, these are only brief concerns, as The Wannabe will please fans of Frawley’s prior works whilst undoubtedly welcoming in new ones, too. An immediate go-to, and alongside RVG’s Brain Worms, The Wannabe is arguably the best album delivered from Australia so far this year.

The Wannabe is out via Trouble In Mind. Purchase from Bandcamp.