Wayne’s EP is a showcase of what he has to offer as a recording artist, capturing his charisma as a starlet and acting talent onto tape. Wayne brings to the mic a Chris Isaak-like sense of cool undercut with the sadness and tragedy apparent in his voice. His is a voice of experience, and it will be clear to listeners that he’s sincere about what he sings. Wayne’s simultaneously laid-back and resigned croon creates a juxtaposition of emotions, a majestic wall of sadness that’s comfortable within its inner solemnity, adding to the richness of his recordings. Wayne Halifax has all the markings of a nuanced singer.

 

Is there anything more staid in the music scene than ‘adult contemporary’? Whilst Wayne is indeed both a responsible ‘adult’ (he owns a driving license after all) and a ‘contemporary’, of-these-times kinda guy, these tunes artfully aim to turn the tables on the safe preconceptions that we tend to associate with the easy listening genre. Specifically, we have three Celtic-tinctured tunes, featuring the melancholy sound of the cello, along with the pastoral sounds of the mandolin, mixed with Wayne’s own pure dose of Americana. Or perhaps we should say ‘Australicana’; a genre, it appears, that Wayne A. Halifax currently holds all to himself with his own unique form of country and Western – Australian style.

These rootsy instrumental touches turn the previously non-threatening ‘adult contemporary’ label into a form of art music which contains a real and defined edge. On the other hand, these songs are anything but self-conscious and pretentious, and we’re left with simple raw emotions and a solid sense of songcraft. Lyrically, ‘My Love’ is a weary travelogue of the heart, documenting Wayne’s own inner journey through a gamut of worldly obstacles, including heartbreak and self-doubt. When we’re told that we’re going on an emotional ‘journey’ we may reflexively think of tacky X Factor-style sob stories, full of gauche anecdotes and trivial pitter-patter, but instead Wayne relays a completely relatable stroll through the recesses of a troubled mind, articulated with more beauty and ease than most can muster.

As listeners and fans, we should thank artists like Wayne for providing a voice to those of us who aren’t so readily able to articulate the momentous tidings of the everyday, and it’s credit to his sense of style that Wayne is able to articulate these fragile topics through his own unique voice, set to the swinging rhythms of 4/4 time. Some artists are born, others are nurtured. Wayne A. Halifax most certainly belongs to the former camp.