Hot contender for worst band name of the year, #1 Dads is Big Scary’s Tom Iansek in solo mode. The project title suggests this is music a father would make. However, the dad responsible forAbout Faceisn’t a daggy Eagles and ABBA enthusiast. Perhaps he’s been doggedly spinning Fleetwood Mac’sRumoursfor 30 years. But lately Cocteau Twins, Sun Kil Moon and Bon Iver have taken over the turntable.

Considering Iansek’s main band is only a two-piece (co-pilot Joanna Syme cameos on one track here), comparisons are inevitable. Bedroom production and distant drum sounds make About Face less forthcoming than Big Scary’s 2013 opus, Not Art. There’s also a strolling relaxation in Iansek’s songwriting. Like a father, he’s got nothing to prove – he’s just doing this for kicks.

Still, that doesn’t belie his singular songwriting sophistication.The record’s dynamic range is somewhat static, but the quality never wanes. Tracks such as the speak-singing acoustic daydream ‘Camberwell’ and the right-of-the-dial pop of ‘So Soldier’ (featuring Ainslie Willis) stand out as novel ventures for Iansek.

Iansek’s master talent is writing songs that won’t burn on contact, but will gradually mark your skin.

4/5.

About Faceis out now through Pieater / Inertia.

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