Trapped Flameisn’t a bad listen, but it also isn’t a Georgia Fair album. It’s a highly polished tribute, one which echoes the band’s potential but fails to realise it.
Trapped Flame seems an appropriate title for the second album from Sydney-bred and Melbourne-based duo Georgia Fair; an album which sees them deliver an impossibly well engineered and mastered recording, but one which fails to see the band’s personality come through.
Aside from the rather dull opening song ‘Gloria’, you cannot find a song on Trapped Flamethat sounds bad. ‘Fiery Night’ is filled with hypnotic drums, powerful vocals and a wonderfully energetic guitar; while the album’s first single ‘Love Free Me’ is a true standout – beautifully restrained instruments accentuate the smooth vocals, creating an almighty cry to the void.
There is nothing wrong with this record in a purely aesthetic sense.
However, the album lacks spirit. It lacks the heart which has been so predominantly affluent throughout the band’s previous releases. Trapped Flameseems less like the second album by Georgia Fair and more like a band paying homage to the idols of their upbringing. An album like this works when it lays out the band’s various musical inspirations like a jigsaw puzzle, showing what parts make up and create their sound. Instead, this feels like the band was simply trying to impress their heroes, eagerly seeking vindication rather than proving they possess a sound which is of equal standing as those they hold in such high regard.
2/5 stars
BY DANIEL PRIOR
Trapped Flame is out now through Sony Music
