Central Rain
“The idea for the album was to let the songs speak for themselves.”
So says Central Rain’s Luke Thomas. And his new album, Paint Over Paint, tells a compelling tale of love and loss, family and forgotten friends, and the healing power of music.
Central Rain – a name inspired by R.E.M.’s ‘So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)’ – is the preferred nomenclature of Luke Thomas, who’s been a mainstay of the Melbourne music scene since he relocated with Brisbane band Lavish in the ’90s. A member of The Pictures and The Ronson Hangup, Luke has been releasing occasional records under the Central Rain moniker since 2014.
“With your heart on your sleeve”, Luke has crafted a classic singer-songwriter collection with Paint Over Paint, a record so raw it’s as if the singer is perched on a barstool next to you, pouring out his life story.
Chances are you’ll see yourself in at least one of the songs.
Luke is singing “songs about people I don’t understand anymore”, where “the truth gets so messed up” and “the raindrops never land inside my cup”.
“A lot of the songs are very open and very personal,” he admits. “Rob was like, ‘That’s okay, records should be what they are … just keep doing it.’”
Rob is producer Robert Muiños (Didirri, Mia Wray), who was a driving force behind the record. “I got to know him pretty well when The Pictures did a tour with Phil Jamieson, and Rob was playing in Phil’s band,” Luke explains. “He heard my songs and said, ‘Mate, you really should do something.’”
Luke recorded the album in four days at Rob’s Rat Shack studios in Collingwood and mixed it in two. “I didn’t want to overdo anything,” he notes. “I wanted to keep it bare. Kind of grand but not too polished.”
Luke and Rob are joined on the record by guitarist Ashley Naylor (Paul Kelly, The Church, RocKwiz Orkestra), drummer Jess Ellwood (Alex Lahey) and piano man Olaf Scott (Teskey Brothers).
Luke is rightly proud of the record. “It feels like the first time ever that I might be entirely satisfied.”
Inspired by “my ultimate playlist, from Townes Earle to Dylan” (‘Hopeless Me’), and “a half-drunk Cabernet” (‘This Old Man’), Luke ponders some of life’s big questions, including “Should I call her up tonight and tell her how I feel?” (‘Valerian’) and “How will I go if I don’t have you around?” and “What do I do to get through the day?” (‘How Will I Go’).
As the artist realises that nothing lasts, he also discovers the power of music. Love hurts. Music heals. “We can hum a tune,” he sings in the bittersweet ‘She Showed Me To Her Room’, “we can dance along/ Clutching our hands, singing our songs.”
Then, in ‘How Will I Go’, “I spun a few records, lost in my head”.
In the end, the listener is gently urged to “close your eyes and sleep”.
“All the little scars seem to fade away eventually,” Luke Thomas declares in the closing cut, ‘In Dreams’. Yep, you might be battered and bruised, but you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go again. Forgetting the pain and diving back in, headfirst. But deep down you know that no matter how many times you try to cover something up, the original truth will always remain.
Paint Over Paint.
“She Showed Me To Her Room is a modern-day classic” – Ashley Naylor
“Thomas writes seemingly effortless pop/rock tunes, all low-key retro guitar gems and sweetly coated with gorgeous harmonies… The overall effect is one of warmth, clarity and impressive simplicity; just pure playing, confident songwriting and a no-frills approach which is totally disarming… One can only hope such talent doesn’t fly under the radar…”
- EJ Cartledge, Inpress Magazine
Flying Information
"Depending on where you came in, this is the latest band guise for Luke Thomas — he formerly of Lavish/The Pictures/The Deserters. If aware of any of the above, you'll realise he knows his pop history which comes through in the drenched melancholy of Cold Turkey On Christmas Day, or Give It All Up Tonight's best thing Blur never wrote. Thomas works mostly as one-man band... [and] the six tracks of this are a handy sampler of his sometimes sentimental take on the craft of pop-song writing."
- Ross Clelland, themusic.com.au