Lisa Salvo’s voice is a gleaming jewel. It’s set within music that balances the structured framework of drums, bass, and harp against more chaotic, free-form interjections from electric guitar, synth, and percussion. Though there’s undoubtedly continuity from On Diamond’s previous iteration that produced their 2019 self-titled debut — which featured Hannah Cameron (guitar, backing vocals) and Maria Moles (drums) — the addition of Genevieve Fry on harp, Myka Wallace on drums, and Duré Dara on percussion to the core trio of Salvo (vocals, songwriting, production), Scott McConnachie (guitar, synth, production), and Jules Pascoe (bass) has brought the band into their own. Melon on the Vine is a notably coherent, vivid, and affecting album.
In terms of reference points, On Diamond operate in a similar “Goldilocks zone” to Radiohead, balancing experimental inclinations with accessible songcraft. Given Salvo’s virtuoso vocals, plus Fry’s harp, there are also moments when the music draws striking comparisons with Björk’s Vespertine, especially on the sparse introduction to “It’s Me Calling.” On early listens, the most immediately gratifying songs are the propulsive singles “Not On Your Own” and “Downslide,” plus the gorgeous climax of the title track, which bursts forth with the urgency of personal revelation: “I raised the banner of my love / Turns out you didn’t see it / And when I open up my heart to hold your grief you are reborn.”
McConnachie’s striking guitarwork tends to either follow the contours of the song, such as on “Not on Your Own,” or go against the grain with abrasive scree, such as on opener “Letting the Wheel Go By.” On the latter, Salvo sings “The past is not a hollow tube / There’s thick debris we’ve got to sort through.” The electric guitar then embodies the debris, slowing down and choking the song at its conclusion. On “It’s Me Calling” the guitar has a clean-toned, jazzy feel, rendered elastic by pitch-shifting, and on the verses of “Hold the Cloak of Time” the guitar is distorted and sinuous. Amid the chaos, Pascoe’s bass stoically holds the center.
On the slower, more exploratory pieces, such as “I Cry To Think” and “Another Sip,” Dara’s textural percussion comes to the fore, peppering the stereo space with metallic clattering, scraping, and chimes. Thankfully, Salvo’s voice consistently brings the songs to a sense of resolution. As she sings on “Downslide,” “I want to know what joy feels like” — amid persistent pain and tension there’s the hopeful balm of love and understanding.
Melbourne alt-pop quintet On Diamond reveal psychedelic new single ‘Candle’
Fearlessly traversing a multitude of genres while probing the deeper parts of the human psyche, Melbourne’s On Diamond return with intriguing new single ‘Candle’. The band broke barriers with their eponymous 2019 debut, featuring the head-turning singles ‘How’, ‘Poison Blood’, and ‘Light’; their genre-defying sound garnering instant success. Now, the beloved quintet are back and excited to reveal their next alt-pop oddity in the introspective mantra that is ‘Candle’.
Without skipping a beat, the band’s new single opens with an eerie atmospheric loftiness before breaking into a punchy crescendo of clanging cymbals, psychedelic, reverb-drenched guitar riffs and densely layered ethereal vocals.
:isa Salvo had this to say about the single: “A truth candle is a magic candle fashioned by the mystics in The Forgotten Realms - a world in Dungeons and Dragons. It acts as a truth serum and all who fall under its power are compelled to tell the truth. This song recalls a moment in my late teens when I learned a painful familial truth. It was extremely jarring but at the same time it revealed the root of a darkness I’d felt my entire life, which in a strange way brought a sense of relief. The song is also a reflection on recognising the ugly, covered up truths present in our society and how we decide to respond to and engage with these truths.”
