On his third LP, Sydney’s disco-funk king Donny Benet takes six guest vocalists back to a time before the invasion of smartphones and Facebook. Working with an extended cast of guests, what could’ve been a disjointed record is streamlined by Donny’s disco beam.
Some tracks just sound like Donny Benet plus a different voice (namely, those featuring Spod and Geoffrey O’Connor), others bear striking semblance to the featured guest’s regular gig (the Isabella Manfredi-helmed ‘Endless’ would fit The Preatures’ new record). Then there are instances where the two personalities beget a unique chemical compound (namely, the tracks with Jack Ladder and Kirin J Callinan).
While the disco extroversion never subsides, it’s hard to picture Benet pulling off the sci-fi dance number ‘Sex Tourist’ on his own. Sung in Benet’s breezy register, the account of failing to find sex overseas could feel like light amusement. With Ladder’s earnest baritone, however, lines like “I gave you all my money, all I got was Thai pad prik” gather disturbing pathos.
Like sneaking a sip from an unattended cosmopolitan, Weekend At Donny’s is a delicious guilty pleasure, which sufficiently obscures your worries… for the moment at least.
4/5.
Weekend At Donny’sis out now through Rice Is Nice /Inertia.
