Sunday 28 April 2013

Embrace Kirin on the Internet Right Now


Turn, face, Embrace.

I once read this "guide book" about how to hug dudes properly. It didn't really work. If anything it probably made things a little more awkward - hugging whilst knowing I'd read it, hoping the embracee would never find out.

Kirin J Callinan doesn't seem to care what you find out. He sings and moves and sells framed photos of himself at gigs with a striking nonchalance. What is striking about it is that it doesn't seem put on. Australians, especially, have fairly well-tuned bullshit detectors. When Kirin is putting things out there, the needle stays pretty close to zero. The things coming out are the things that are in there. Inside him as he lurches lopsided and semi-naked around his own apartment  - in the clear view of the neighbours in the next building. He is self-aware but not acting.



There is something deeper running through this as well. Something that touches on the reason Australian males might need a "guide book" for hugging other dudes in the first place. There's a murky anxiety in the lyrics, the way they are delivered (listen for the exhalation) and the just-too-fast heartbeat of the bass line.

It may seem awkward at first, but, if you lean into it, Embracism will warm you.

Find out more on the Siberia Records site here.

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