Shape Of The Day - CD

– Review from Nth Queensland's Music Newspaper BARFLY 

- Excellent

At last, Mick Hodgkins one of Cairns' most creative songwriters, makes it onto CD with a band that can keep up with his unpredictable, yet always interesting, flights of intelligent emotion. Aided by some of the best studio production (Select Sound) yet for a local release and rich with subtle arrangements, this is a song collection to be welcomed and given the recognition its musical maturity deserves.

MY SONG: A typically quirky Mick melody with some beautiful chord changes and lots of unexpected rhythm and lyrical twists.

PALM CREEK: Jazz organ and a rap about a brand new day, the hidden, constructive energies of nature and the arrival [maybe] of a thousand years of wisdom.

SHAPE OF THE DAY: A sea shanty with a 'we're all in this together' idealism. Morale boosting and good natured.

GIANGURRA: 'Last night I was dreaming as shadows became day. I felt at peace with beings that nightly fed and played. I shivered down my spine. The ocean turned to white.' A beautiful, heart holding chord progression accompanied, once again, by the sweet harmonic perfume of the Frangipani Girls. This song could be wonderfully interpreted by a 'Baraka' style video. 'Footprints on the land lead to rocky trails seeming to hold hands with yesterday. I watched in silent wonder. Gold rays filled the sky. Sunrise over Yarrabah.'

PS: A roll of the drums and we’re in a deceptively carnival-like environment. Kirk features on a battered by experience accordion as Mick tells the tale of a pensioner, not included in all the "fun' and living alone with his memories.

MILLION TO ONE: Unfortunately, the higher plans of nature for humanity still have a long way to go before they reach fulfilment. 'It's time to stop hiding our heads in the sand and start speaking. They won’t believe us if we give them no reason to listen. Let's try to teach by example. Maybe it's peace they can’t handle.’

GONDWANALAND: A long time favourite from the days when MJ paid their waterhole circuit dues. Rearranged to incorporate the silvery waves of Kirk Steel's piano and the sunrays of the Frangipani Girls' harmonies.

REBEL FLAG: The closest musical link to the Crown Hotel incarnation of Mangrove Jack. Kirk Steel fires his fingers on the accordion. Gait Betts pushes the beat along. Nigel Pegrum struts his stuff and Mick and Bronwyn interweave on the chorus. Total joy with an anti-war message.

TALKING ON THE PHONE: Grand piano and intense vocal are met at the halfway point by a solitary flute. Is there the possibility of a second chance at the good times? A fear-laden chord change is resolved at the songs' end. It could happen. It just could happen.

All in all, a CD I enjoyed immensely.

Excellent ·         Steven Cloys