The name of their new CD which is a sort of chronicle of life at middle age.

Music played:
Somewhere Different
Say Goodbye to What’s Left
Comp. Conway

Listen to this interview: The Music Show on ABC Radio National

April 30, 2010

SOMEWHERE between her commercial high with It’s Only the Beginning and a baffling electronic experiment called Ultrasound, mercurial indie diva Deborah Conway left compromise in a ditch.

This is her ninth studio album (under numerous guises) with husband Willy Zygier, and from his jaunty Wes Montgomery-styled instrumental overture to a charming banjo lullaby featuring their three daughters, it fairly saunters with a relaxed resolve to be whatever it wants to be.

The tone is mostly set by Zygier’s smiling feel for acoustic strings of all stripes: Somewhere Different and Chromatic Jew are dappled country folk; Agar Rag drips with sepia; a woody mandolin and muted Salvation Army band flavour the contented domestic waltz, Cul De Sac.

There’s tougher stuff too: Take Pity on the Beast is intense, existential blues that nearly overcooks in eight minutes of biblical allegory but the tonally challenging gutbucket swing of Spoken Like a Man may be the highlight.

Far from chasing pop currency, it’s mainly the sweet air of another century that pervades here. But it’s their parlour and, clearly, nobody tells them how to decorate.

Blessed with an angelic voice, deft at lyrical wordplay and armed with a seemingly inexhaustive melody well, Conway – and partner Zygier – create songs which become best friends for life. You can hear the influence of her Patsy Cline tribute shows lingering in One Chance, while Accidents Happen In The Home recalls Martha Davis. Beautifully played, you can hear every single note and the care taken to let the songs breathe. Special guests include Paul Kelly and Toni Collette.

Kathy Macabe

Rolling Stone

There are two potentially scary aspects about Summertown. Firstly, Deb Conway wants to be ?mature?; and secondly, it?s incredibly ambitious to aim to write songs as perfect as those of Carole King, James Taylor et al. But these fears are unfounded. Apart from the odd uneasy moment, Summertown is magical. An acoustic album with classical moves, Conway is subtle and restrained. Partners in music and life, she and Zygier create upbeat gems, dramatic ballad, lullabies and pop with country music being an almost unconscious influence. Guests included Toni Collette and Paul Kelly, plus members of Augie March and the John Butler Trio. Why Conway isn?t a world-famous diva is a mystery. Maybe she could have been if she had auditioned for Neighbours.

Annette Basile

WHO Magazine

Summertown – Now Hear This

Sometimes a bad break is a lucky break. Apparently Conway broke an arm while writing her latest album, so she was sidelined from playing guitar, and long time partner- collaborator Zygier had to keep things simple and play rhythm. The result is a collection of songs that doesn?t fuss around, keeping things concise and painting everything in primary colours. That said, Conway?s storytelling ability has developed to a point where she?s not afraid to tackle the big old genres, and she has a nice line in understatement (Accidents Happen In The Home?) and in finding a new angle in a well-worn theme(?Something?s Right?). Meanwhile, ?Sunday Morning? (with Toni Collette on backing vocals) is so breezy and carefree that it warms the cockles of your heart. I?ve ploughed through many, many albums by female singer-songwriters of late that are either overly flowery or cloyingly self-obsessed, so it?s pleasant to hear Conway tiptoeing a fairly steady line between heartbreak and infatuation with barely a hiccup.

Barry Divola