Having dropped the ’60s pop posturing, who exactly do The Basics want to be now? Given their vociferous indignation at their lack of triple j airplay in the past, the Melbourne trio’s third record Keep Your Friends Close isn’t their “sell out” record as you might expect. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. While the record’s first single ‘With This Ship’ is perhaps the most contemporary-sounding song bassist Kris Schroeder and drummer Wally de Backer have written together, it’s the red herring of the record. This isn’t an album with radio fodder. The Basics may have ditched the suits and Lennon and McCartney-isms, but their penchant for classic songwriting archetypes is alive and well.

Opener ‘Fear Of Failure’ is the first clue as to who The Basics want to be. From the harmonised vocals of Schroeder and de Backer to the song’s minor-chord progressions, it’s The Basics aiming to claim the pop mantelpiece vacated by Neil Finn and Crowded House when they first disbanded in 1996. It makes sense: Finn was influenced by latter-era Beatles, and it’s no secret that The Basics are massive Fab Four devotees. This album feels like an unintended companion piece to Crowded House’s 1993 Together Alone. Just like that classic album, Keep Your Friends Close is a surprisingly melancholic pop album, a departure from the ebullience and joie de vivre The Basics displayed on songs like ‘Just Hold On’ and ‘Sound Off’ from their last album Stand Out/Fit In.

Kris Schroeder has always possessed a mournful voice, sounding halfway between a Central Station busker and a lonely sea captain singing shanties about lost loves in a dilapidated, half-empty pub. He brings the sadness to ‘On The Day Mairead Goes Away’, a stark tome about loss. On ‘All Or Nothing’, Schroeder channels Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen as he sings about unrequited love. Even on ‘What Do You See In Me?’, ostensibly a love song, Schroeder exudes pessimism. “I know there’s a reason for why it must be,” he sings. “So, I’m asking you honey – do you really care about me?” But it’s ‘Trouble In His Head’ – a dark exposition of depression and alcoholism penned by guitarist Tim Heath – that provides the album’s wildcard in the musical deck. Sounding not unlike Keith Richards when he tries to sing, Heath creates an engaging, minimalist number, drowning the sole guitar in reverb while he croons lines such as, “And he let death gladly take him/And it pulled him down with glee.”

The strength of The Basics here is their ability to embellish their songs with intelligent arrangements. ‘The Executioner’ – a song about capital punishment that I’m sure is actually a metaphor for a break-up – has a wonderfully jaunty feel to it, with spaghetti western guitars and quivering, staccato brass. The moody ‘Home Again’, one of the few songs to feature de Backer on lead vocals, is filled with subtle, ethereal backing vocals, short bursts of sweeping synthesiser, tinkling piano and legato strings. The noticeable absence of de Backer on vocals – the strongest of the three voices – feels like a calculated plan to separate The Basics from de Backer’s work as Gotye, which has always overshadowed the trio since the release of the ARIA-winning Like Drawing Blood (2006).

Ultimately, Keep Your Friends Close won’t garner The Basics the same kind of audience that Gotye has, nor will the songwriting – let down by a lack of immediate hooks – penetrate the mainstream conscious in the same way. Nevertheless, Keep Your Friends Close is a collection of slow-burners that opt for sparse arrangements and subtle melodies to highlight the narrative. And while on occasion, the album veers into adult contemporary territory (‘What Do You See In Me?’ and ‘Keep The Door Open’), for the first time in their career, The Basics sound like they know who they are.

by Dom Alessio