Both Melbourne based, Simone Page Jones is an opera singer and cabaret artist, and Miles O'Neil is a founding member of the junkyard band and performance group The Suitcase Royale. If you were at the Festival Hub on Sunday afternoons, you may have caught a sneak preview of this gorgeous duo and Simone's super cute dog. I really loved that the dog sat on stage with them.
They have been friends for a long time and say that last summer they "found themselves on many an afternoon drinking gin and singing lonesome duets in the backyard. As the months got colder they left the backyard and began recording the songs in Miles’s spare room studio."
The rough mix of the album took them to Portland, Oregon, where was mixed by renowned engineer Adam Selzer.
"Eleven songs of sparse acoustic duets subtly augmented by an old piano, pedal steel and the plunk of a banjo. Set in the folk/country tradition and maintaining at their core an Australian feel both in the lyrics and laconic style, the songs are straight from the heart and tell tales of the things that were, the things that weren’t and everything in between."
It's already been described as "a work of quiet brilliance" and just having a listen to the sample tracks, I wish I'd said it first.
You can listen here and buy here.
Launch photos by Telia Nevile
