4/5 stars
Seth Sentry is the kind of artist who makes you feel like you’re already best friends with him. Getting blazed, playing Xbox and complaining about work are the bread and butter of the Sentry back catalogue. Yet Strange New Past stands out as a mature successor to 2012’s This Was Tomorrow by taking each successful element to the next level.
No longer does Sentry only have a miniscule bag of weed, he embellishes his success in ‘Hell Boy’ by claiming he’s “Puffing pentagrams / And getting brimstoned”. It’s not just a juvenile boast; over the top of a double bass, this is the best way for Sentry to show he’s finally reached a point of success.
Hitting the age of 30 after his last album, it’s clear that the Melbourne native is struggling to rid himself of his latent adolescence and find his place in the adult world. His earlier immaturity is replaced by older and more reflective subject matter, with Sentry pouring his heart and soul out about his absentee mother in ‘Violin’. It’s an album highlight and epitomises the changes that Sentry has gone through during his rise to success.
With his trademark tongue-in-cheek finally applied to something other than shying from responsibility, Strange New Past is a huge step forward for Seth Sentry.
Seth Sentry’s Strange New Past is available through High Score/Inertia.
