NSW artist Wade Jackson‘s voice always conjures so many wonderful reference points every time I hear it. Following his album Sensationalized, ‘The Sweetheart‘ (Broken Stone Records) is the next opening chapter of his always fascinating musical journey.

Rich and evocative, the song possesses a sublime sense of restrained grandeur. Swelling synthetic strings, melodic bell-like intonations and a wide open stereoscope provide the perfect backdrop for Wade’s dreamy paean to a loved one.

The lyrical tropes are familiar yet he imbues the words with such emotiveness and devotion that they ring true. I’m hearing Scott Walker, David Sylvian and Kevin Rowland. That European croon through an Antipodean filter – artful, considered and gentile, in full evocative flight.