The predominant mood of this album is one of openness and sharing, the musical equivalent of the warm feeling you get from being with a bunch of mates you know and trust. It offers a chance to unwind or generally just chew the fat in a down to earth, relaxed manner.
In this atmosphere, friendly advice is taken and given, jokes are told and you even get a good cake recipe.
The point of view is that of Aussie singer-songwriter Mark Boulle but it is significant that this record is billed as a Haba Dudes record rather than as Boulle plus backing band. This is only right for this is far more than a solo project.
The introspective tone of his songs is channelled through a harmonious band sound, transforming them into something more outward looking and positive. The wonderful violin playing of Elodie Mayberry is a particularly essential feature of the group sound.
The title may lead you to expect some of the overt political content that featured on his solo album (All The Leaves Are Falling Down) or, even more so, with his last album with the Haba Dudes (Shoot To Kill).
But Robin Hood ethics apart, there are no obvious axes to grind here. The title track is simply an excuse for some exuberant skiffle-like playing and the message is a straightforward one - forget about the distractions of TV or drugs, "music can help set you on your way".
Even the potentially downbeat topic of heavy drinking (Bottledown Nightmare) is breezily pitched in terms of passing on word from the wise rather than as an excuse to reflect on any wider social malaise. Drunken behaviour receives the gentlest of rebukes ("loneliness attracts loneliness") and the playful clarinet and whistling emphasise the non judgemental tone.
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Even the sadder songs like Understand You have a hopeful quality. A fond farewell to a girl he may never see again is full of warmth and gratitude when it could so easily have been a self pitying lament about what might have been.
There's plenty of straight humour too, none more so than in Sugar Mama, in which Boulle dreams of finding the female equivalent of a sugar daddy. He muses that her wealth alone would not be enough since she would also have to put up with his musical obsessions.
My personal favourite is Glastonbury, a summery song about travel and finding an escape from the rat race ("I might know a friend to put you up to stay, down Glastonbury way"). The arrangement is simplicity itself with strummed acoustic guitar fleshed out by beautifully understated playing from the five-piece band.
A drifting, go with the flow mentality seems to underpin songs like these - consistent with the stereotypical image of Australians as sociable and easy going travelling companions.
The general outlook is mostly sunny with only occasional cool breezes and the fourteen folk-pop songs are the essence of true social music : light-hearted, warmly romantic, slightly wistful and, above all, refreshingly honest.
Haba Dudes on Myspace
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