Aviary Takes

Editors’ Notes Revisiting his most enduring songs along with a few covers, Dan Sultan puts his voice squarely in the spotlight on this pared-back outing. Named for the Melbourne studio where it was recorded with producer Matt Redlich (Husky, Holy Holy), Aviary Takes reintroduces the raw, bluesy power of Sultan’s singing, set against modest beds of piano and acoustic guitar. The opening track, a version of Michael Kiwanuka’s “Love & Hate,” is especially emotional, shaded with a hard-won wisdom all his own. But for all the stirring power of Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over” and Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio,” Sultan’s own material shines just as brightly, from the country-salted “Lonesome Tears” and “Old Fitzroy”—the latter was covered by Missy Higgins in 2014—to the soulful catharsis of skeletal closer “Should’ve Known.”