Chuditch
Cue the Violins
Independent
Chuditch will be one to watch after this release. The solo project of beloved West Australian songwriter Leigh Gardiner of (Louis and the Honkytonk, Cedric Street Exorcist), Chuditch scored big last year with debut single Grasping at the Water, a dark ballad that echoed Nick Cave at his finest. That effort reached the finals of the 2020 International Songwriting Competition. Whether or not second single Cue the Violins will get such accolades on paper is irrelevant, as it is an even more accomplished piece of work and a go-to example of Gardiner’s scarily good songwriting.
Whereas Water was slow and brooding, Cue the Violins retains its inward-looking themes but wraps them in a euphoric indie-disco package. The song is carried by driving drums, shimmering guitar notes and an absolutely beautiful looping piano riff that sounds like the best 90s house track you’ve never heard. It’s an excellently structured song, with Gardiner’s soaring vocals stretching across the verses and the equally angelic chorus announcing itself with a cathartic singular chord.
The song never lets its energy up and continues to build in its second half, featuring a sublime mellotron solo that suits the song’s wistful atmosphere perfectly. Lyrically the song is about suffering for your art, and the chorus line of “I gather all my sins/ I call for the furnace/ And they keep me burning/ All night” is effortlessly inspired.
This is a meticulously written, performed and recorded piece of work which will leave you clamouring for what comes next out of this project.
MATIJA ZIVKOVIC
