Ryan Downey

★★★ A Ton Of Colours DOT DASH RECORDINGS. CD/DL/LP

Heart-on-sleeve follow up to 2018’s Running.

A game of two halves here: side one is all bittersweet rainbows in puddles; side two is full of monotone melancholy. At his best, Melbourne crooner Downey is a master of swaggering, vulnerable lyrics and catchy melodies, doffing his cap to Kate Bush and David Byrne. Heart Is An Onion, the opener, hits you with art rock glamour, mixing Psychedelic Furs-style guitar propulsion with torch song intensity. Sors De Ma Tête could be Scott Walker singing Velvet Underground, producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barrett) drenching things in shameless, salty drama. Contact, detailing a failing affair, is majestic, lumpin-throat stuff: “And all the time you knew me/Was all the time you loved me.” From these high points we arrive at a clutch of downplayed reflections. These might, with time, mean more; whatever, the first half deserves a ton of stars.