Dom Mariani
""I tend to get pigeonholed a bit, but I feel this album has allowed me to break out of those power pop/garage rock moulds…
"I tend to get pigeonholed a bit, but I feel this album has allowed me to break out of those power pop/garage rock moulds. It's all about the songs." From the Stems to the Someloves to DM 3 and beyond, Dom Mariani has always been a dedicated follower of craft, not fashion.
The global pop press may have swooned over paisley prints and cool guitar tones, but strip away the style from 20 years' worth of tunes and the great Western Australian songwriter is revealed as an artist of timeless musical substance. Rewind and Play handpicks 12 songs from various Mariani vehicles, from Stems singles "For Always" and "At First Sight" to overlooked band and solo gems, and recasts them in a warm semi-acoustic light more redolent of classic American storytellers than the rock underground of his salad days. "It's great to have the opportunity to have another go at these songs," he says. "I didn't have anything preconceived. I did some of the groundwork at home, played a bunch of songs for a while until I found the ones I felt comfortable with. Then we went into a rehearsal studio and started jamming on them, really. "I guess the slower, acoustic approach lends itself to the melancholy side of my writing.
The vocal delivery was important, slowing it down, getting into the words, trying to make it upfront and intimate for the listener." Rewind and Play was recorded in the Perth winter of 2009 with a team of friends spanning Dom's long career: the odd backing vocal by the Summer Suns' Kim Williams, drums and percussion by DM 3's Pascal Bartolone, bass by the Majestic Kelp's Stu Loasby and WA legend Howard Shawcross (Elks, Dave Warner). Keyboards were played by Nunzio Mondia, whose orchestral arrangements add a deeper dimension to several songs, including Dom's superb, Bacharach-esque solo lament, "When It Ends", and what may be the definitive version of the lustrous Someloves single, "Sunshine's Glove".
"When I first wrote that song I'd imagined The Ronettes doing it."says Dom. "Now it's more Willy DeVille." A similarly majestic-nostalgic feel permeates "Just like Nancy", and a fondly recast cover: a slow, emotive version of Van Morrison and Them's "Here Comes The Night".
"It's moving forward, "says Dom." I feel like this is giving me more scope as a performer - not so much the songwriting, but the approach.It's not about styling a band around a certain thing anymore. Something I should have done a long time ago."
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