Classic sounds set to resound

AN up-and-coming act geared towards reviving the classic feel of blues and rock’s past-century players is getting ready for their Ballarat debut.

Part of an eight-show schedule showcasing the release of their new single Warm Love, vintage-style rockers Sweet Talk are set to play The Eastern late next month.

With the majority of stops in regional Victoria, guitarist and singer Soren Walker said the tour will be the band’s first major foray outside metro areas.

“We’d like to carve out a bit of a local rural circuit for ourselves and bring Sweet Talk to these towns,” he said. “It’s always been on the cards for us.

“The songs we decide to record first are the ones best received by live audiences and Warm Love is very much in that category so we’re excited to bring it to Ballarat.”

Though it had been road-tested for about six months prior to its release, Warm Love was launched on Saturday at Melbourne’s Gasometer Hotel, with Freya Josephine Hollick and The ReChords supporting.

Walker said like the band itself, the song’s influences are baked into its sound.

“We’re a band that wears our influences on our sleeve,” he said. “That’s apparent in Warm Love but with a Sweet Talk twist.

“The rhythm alone is very much Bo Diddley’s rhythm. There’s a great dual-guitar solo that’s a tip of the hat to the Allman Brothers, and there’s some funky drumming that’s a bit of Little Feat.”

The group is currently working on a batch of about four songs, of which Warm Love was one of them, with the potential to group the works into an EP or album next year.

In keeping with their retro bent, Sweet Talk maintains a primarily analogue approach to recording with their latest song, tracked at Soundpark, being no exception.

“It’s always been important for us to stay true to how those classic records were made,” Walker said. “The guts of each release is a live take done all to tape.”

As well as the five shows in their Sweet Victoria tour, the band will also perform at the Blues at Bridgetown and Dashville Skyline festivals, in Western Australia and New South Wales respectively.

Sweet Talk’s Eastern show will take place on Saturday 28 October with tickets $25 online and $20 door and available at bit.ly/3sStcA2.