jane weaver: the silver globe

Like all good parables, Jane Weaver's sixth solo album, a concept album called The Silver Globe, is as multifaceted as it is beguiling. Part coming of age/part cautionary tale and part romantic peon, this 12-track synth-ridden post-apocalyptic prog-pop opus is based on tightly embroidered, non-linear recurring themes and inspired by esoteric stories, cosmic imagery and refiltered past experiences. Written from the optimistic vantage of a long-standing female independent artist, in a desperately-evolving industry, Jane's latest set of self-penned pop abstractions combine mechanical rock/recycled European cinema/empyrean vocalizations and an arsenal of rescued vintage synths to create a futurist narrative backdrop of an allegorical post-apocalyptic landscape. Assembled from disparate studio sessions recorded sporadically since the release of the critically-acclaimed Fallen by Watchbird LP, The Silver Globe explores new collaborative relationships featuring tracks co-produced by David Holmes, guest appearances by Australian vintage space-rockers Cybotron, a recycled chunk of an '80s Hawkwind track, an intricate Damon Gough guitar solo, some Suzanne Ciani waves and post-production/remix flourishes by Andy Votel. Enjoying her most fertile period to date, Jane's reactions to the music of Italian synth stars Daniela Casa and Doris Norton with local DIY artists like Una Baines' The Fates (released on her own Bird imprint) provide yet another launch pad for Jane's latest musical trajectories. Paying homage in title to the troublesome Andrzej Zulawski (Possession) film of the same title, and combining influences from a wide range of lost pop and cinematic obscurities, Jane's new album uses the motif of a distant, mythical, impenetrable silver planet which eventually reveals itself to be a simple reflection of the beholder's own souls. Loosely metaphorical in its content, The Silver Globe witnesses Jane's commitment to self-pressed, conceptual pop music reach its next logical progression without compromising her natural skills as a talented, melodic song-writer preserving pop vaudeville over pre-packed vacuity.