Audreys

Bewitching and beguiling. And that’s just their vocalist! Rumour has it this band are pegged as a variance on our own Cowboy Junkies — but that’s hardly an appropriate comparison. Sure, the band’s sound is built around the voice of the female lead singer but Taasha Coates has more than a functional voice. She has a superb voice that instantly penetrates and enthrals the listener. Beyond Coates’s key contribution, the band’s sound is built around the ragtag guitar and banjo techniques of Tristan Goodall and the significant violin, mandolin and harmonising skills of Mikey G. Categorised as alt-country pop, this is truly more of a hybrid born of spirited gypsies —swing plays a role as does country twang and hillbilly bluegrass, making this much more of a daring musical adventure than the "Junkies” tag could ever lend. The original tracks are dark and other-worldly and Coates’s range envelops everyone from Nick Cave to Julie Andrews — digest that for a minute! Tracks such as the delicious "Oh Honey” name-check a Zeppelin drum sample while "Nothing Wrong With Me” is more bent spaghetti western than anything as limited as alt-country. But for a clear, crisp sample of Coates’s voice, their cover of INXS’ "Don’t Change” will have you scrambling for a copy. And that’s before you see them live, where Mikey G. and Goodall’s ability to control the electricity, ramping up the exuberance of their well-crafted originals. This is a revelation worth revealing.