Al Carr is able to cross Country and Rock music with ease, with a sensibility that evokes a road trip across regional Australia. His rich emotional voice always does it for me.
- Crispi, Radio City PBS 106.7 FM
The Right Dereliction is the third solo album to be released by Al Carr. It sees him reunite with his band and long-time collaborator Simon Maiden (guitar) to craft ten new songs. Clinton Kraus produced and mixed the record to mark the third release of Al’s that Clint has worked on.
Written at home after a move to regional Victoria, these songs have been gestating for several years. Al’s band ventured into Aviary Studios in late 2022 and set about putting down the bedrock of each song quickly across three days. Final flourishes and vocals were added at Clint’s home studio in Portarlington, with the end result delivering something special.
Each song on this release is tinged with a sense of hopefulness whilst recounting stories, characters and personalities who are struggling through a moment in time. Often the verse lyrics imparting the dilemma to be resolved in the chorus with positivity and an answer or path forward of sorts. The album title itself (The Right Dereliction) follows suite, a play on words attempting to frame both sides of the coin.
‘With this batch of songs I wanted to get inside the head of a character living through a small town drama and balance the lyrics almost like a confessional of sorts. The verses offering up the dilemma and the choruses providing the redemption. Creating a type of counterweight throughout the lyrical structure that is framed with a sense of bittersweet hopefulness.
I’m thrilled with the way the album has ended up sounding. ‘I think this album wants to lean into dirty…which is good’ were Clint’s first words to me after hearing a rough version of the album tracks. I couldn’t have been happier to follow that approach as it tied in perfectly with the lyrical themes of finding light in the grittiness’.
Al has been playing music in various guises for over twenty years. From Sydney to London to Melbourne. The past decade in Melbourne has seen Al record an EP and three solo records. Assisted at times by some of Melbourne’s most revered musicians (Davey Lane, Louis Macklin, Shane Reilly). This most recent collection of material is Al’s most assured set of songs to date. He looks forward to playing the record for audiences in 2023.
"...this album is great – a real grower. A mixture of rocking alt-country gems and some laid-back, dreamy tracks. But good tunes are always to the fore... It’s a gritty collection with some superb songs and a great album cover. Bravo."
- AmericanaUK on The Right Dereliction, awarding the album 8/0
"Swiftly driving along on a Hammond organ trill with arching, scything guitars, this is a shimmering piece of antipodean Americana filled with a cinematic breadth."
- Backseat Mafia on 'The Rose of Jericho
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"The EP, six tracks of alt-country rock possesses a real late-night barroom feel – it sounds clean but rustic at the same time…. Macklin’s keys end up providing a thread through the recording, making one imagine Carr and company recording this EP late at night with whiskey glasses atop of pianos and amps….. his voice sounds like the bastard child of Mick Jagger and the Go-Betweens Robert Forster."
– Garry Westmore, Beat Magazine
"Vocally, Carr scowls, reaches a crescendo, pulls the reins back when needed and never overplays his hand/voice/intention…. There’s plenty here to suggest that a full-length record would sit rather nicely, and proudly, among Melbourne’s roots elite when, and if, the chap takes the next step"
– Nick Argyriou, unpaved.com.au
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"Melbourne singer-songwriter Al Carr has unveiled the music video for his foot-stomping track, ‘Good Endings’. The song is the first release off Carr’s upcoming album and has the familiar twang we’ve come to love from him."
"The single reminds us that sometimes parting ways is “all we’ve got”, and not every ending is a bad one when staying together could be worse. Fortunately, Carr’s smooth vocals and alt-country melodies on the track do a beautiful job of communicating the seemingly brutal truth in a warm manner "
- Jonti Ridley, Beat Magazine