VOODOO LOVE CHILD SPEAKEASY

LIVE MUSIC is free every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Stop by for a weekend libation and you’ll find someone tickling at the keys, strumming a guitar or honking away on the horns.

FAMOUS FOR the classic muffuletta sandwich. It’s a meaty, cheesy delight finished with a tangy olive tapenade and made to be washed down with a strong drink. There’s a vegetarian option as well – this is Melbourne, after all.

INFAMOUS FOR the cocktails. They’re a little too good. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself stumbling out of the door after a few too many Sazeracs. Pass a good time, as they say in New Orleans!

Æ Looking for a little Louisiana charm without the gators, hurricanes or thousand dollar plane ticket? Try St Kilda instead. Voodoo Love Child Speakeasy channels the food, the vibes and the music of the swampy south, and after working your way through their drink menu, we promise you won’t be able to notice the difference.

On the weekends, blues and jazz tunes echo through the room, leaning into that smoky speakeasy feeling. If the mood is right, dancing may ensue. Karaoke is also not off the cards. Throughout the week, they’ve got other entertainment as well, from a fortnightly poetry reading to a beloved Wednesday night trivia session.

The menu is southern comfort at its finest. Fusing French, African and American flavours, the dishes have just the right balance of sweetness, spice and decadence. Think jambalaya, cajun chips, Po’ boys and fried chicken with cornbread waffles – spread on that jalapeno maple syrup butter and tell me it’s not black magic. If you need an extra kick, they’ve got hot sauces coming out the wazoo.

There are red velvet lounges tucked in the corner that offer a more intimate visitor experience, but around the bar is where the fun is at. Every seat offers a prime view of the evening’s talent and the set-up is made to be social, so don’t be surprised if you end up leaving with a few new friends. Homey, groovy and jam-packed with pizazz, it’s a spot that does the Big Easy justice.

WHERE: 484 SMITH ST, COLLINGWOOD

OPEN: WED–SUN, 4 PM–LATE

WHERE: 143 CHAPEL ST, ST KILDA

OPEN: TUE-SUN

Didirri

Caught In The Act

Æ Begin Again opens with a tender, meditative repeated note on piano. Then Didirri’s lilting vocal melodies hover, weightless as a majestic dragonfly surfing a slipstream: “I feel the breeze/ Feel it on my neck/ Feel it on my neck, it’s grand…” – we’ve been hanging out to hear Didirri’s debut album ever since this first taste dropped over two years ago and can confirm that Caught In The Act surpasses our sky-high expectations.

Opening track Obsolete Machine (“You’re a slave to the obsolete machine”) explores “technology’s effect on the human condition”. From a drum machine beat and gentle guitar strumming, instrumentation gradually expands and builds until brass eventually enters the arrangement during this song’s final minute, like an unexpected rainbow sighting ushering in optimistic vibes. Heaving Chest, a piano-led lullaby, was written at 3am while bushfires raged close to where Didirri was staying in WA (“There’s ash on the breeze/ I fall to my knees”). This one’s string arrangement quivers and swells, offering solace and a brief reprieve from anxiety.

“You can’t cure me with conversation/ But stay here for a while/ I hear the ticking of the ever growing shadow/ And I don’t wanna know the time” – You Know What’s Good For You – which is about trusting your gut, even when it’s telling you something you don’t necessarily wanna hear – sees Didirri backed by a full band. Heartfelt, poetic lyricism abounds during this song and chord progressions during the bridge bring Rufus Wainwright to mind.

Didirri has said that producer Rob Muinos (Julia Jacklin, Little May, Nat Vazer) made a habit of checking in to make sure he “was 100% on every line”, which definitely paid dividends; the lyric sheets alone read like evocative poems, with Love Can Bleed You By The Hand a particular fave: “I live in a town called fear/ Everything’s curated here/ Nothing is created here in fear…”

According to this album’s presser, a pair of songs on here – the confessional, acoustic guitar-driven I Wanted It Easier Than This and the stately, piano-led closer Numb (“‘Cause I’m singin’ of love and of heaven above/ While I’m thinkin’ of you in the ground”) – “represent times in Didirri’s life that aren’t easy to revisit”. But his willingness to process life’s gritty bits through song, while reckoning with the past, has undoubtedly contributed to Didirri’s massive growth as an artist.

Transportive, introspective, vulnerable, intimate, enchanting and deceptively unassuming, Caught In The Act captures this exceptional Warrnambool-raised singer-songwriter on the cusp of a breakthrough. And not to minimise the understated elegance of this record, but it also has the makings of a top-notch makeout soundtrack.

Love Saves

Æ Tina Arena gives herself permission to express raw emotion on Love Saves, which bleeds authenticity.

This album’s early songwriting sessions took place around a piano in Stockholm – using zero technology, just a notepad and writing utensil. Four songs –one a day – spilled forth. Church, which brings Bond theme-level drama (Tina’s closing money note!), materialised first: “I forgive you for everything/ For all the nights I couldn’t sleep…” – this record’s opening lead single also documents Tina’s path to self-forgiveness.

“But I won’t fake it/ I can’t be anything/ That I’m not…” – Cry Me A Miracle’s lyrics encapsulate how Tina has approached her entire career, which spans almost five decades (she first appeared on Young Talent Time in 1976, aged just eight). She boasts one of the greatest Australian voices of all time and Love Saves rightfully places Tina’s impeccable pipes front and centre. BVs, supplied by Bachelor Girl’s Tania Doko, and piano also play integral supporting roles throughout.

Can’t Say Anything unleashes, fierce as all get-out, before Tina’s closing, “Heh!” channels Beyoncé. “Fuck you, I’m a Joan Of Arc without a cause…” – Devil In Me, this album’s super-satisfying fuck-you moment, is unapologetic but never devoid of irony. This song’s final, emphatic bass note on piano lands like a triumphant full stop.

She’s described this record as “a window into [her] soul” and, with her first album of original material in eight years, it’s thrilling to witness Tina strutting into full power.

LABEL: LIBERATION RECORDS

RELEASE: 4 AUG

LABEL: ADA

RELEASE: 14 JUL