Album Review: Beanpole

I’ve just had the pleasure of reviewing Beanpole, the brand new album from Georgia Knight. The Lyttelton-based singer/songwriter has been making waves in the scene after releasing the Hell On Bent Street EP in 2023, and is poised to hit the stratosphere if this album is anything to go by, especially with the hugely positive reactions to singles Mingle and Desire, both tearing up the charts.

Fix My Car is the first track, and aptly starts with an idling car, and a radio being aimlessly changed from station to station, before a mournfully plucked guitar starts up. Softly, almost hesitantly, drums begin to make themselves heard. A light and beautiful moment erupts around the two minute mark. Then the vocal refrain is breathily repeated, making way for an atmospheric instrumental section. This song has a dark beauty, and despite the sparseness of instrumentation, has a surprisingly large sound, the radio in the background, never quite audible, adding an artful contribution. City Gone To Seed is, quite simply, fantastic songwriting. Such a simple chord progression- C, G, F- played on repeat throughout the almost six minute duration of the song. Strummed softly, with an almost reserved lilt. The way the vocals are structured and laid over the top is superbly done, I could listen to this all day. The vocal delivery is reminiscent of Suzanne Vega, to my ears, which can only be a good thing. A simple yet sweet piano line drifts over the latter part of the song.

Not Bad At All has an acapella solo vocal intro, which sounds like it’s delivered through a megaphone. The backing of drums, bass, and I’m picking it’s likely autoharp comes into play along with some other subtle layers. The overall feel seems perhaps rooted in Alt Country, but there are many more influences adding to the overall soundscape. At three minutes long, it’s considerably shorter than either of the two before it, but it packs a huge impact into that shorter package, a much more Rock-tinged offering.

Mingle hit #1 on Aotearoa’s Alternative Airplay Charts after being released as the second single. It has an eerie beginning, a discordant tone accompanied by an insistent knocking beat, with autoharp following not far behind. Vocals come quietly into the mix, until after a couple more bars a huge beat and groove, redolent of classic Trip-hop takes the album in yet another direction again. This is masterful stuff. Georgia’s melodic sense is so deliciously hooky, the kind of stuff that sticks like honey to your eardrums, compelling you to listen over and over again.

Rockerbilly has a punchy drum intro into a partnership with a solid driving bass, and angular guitar stabs. As the song evolves, for evolve it most assuredly does, the mighty Garbage springs to mind, in a most excellent way. Nothing remotely derivative, just that same remarkable way of being able to create a particular type of mood.

Desire was the first single released, peaking at #2 on Aotearoa’s Alternative Airplay Charts during its 7 week stint, as well as placing #1 on Student Radio Network Nationwide top 10 on release week, and featured in NZ Herald/Listener ‘Songs of the Week’. It’s another one that wouldn’t have sounded at all out of place in the 90’s. A much more electronically driven song. I love an artist that can create such a vast palette of variety with their songs, yet everything sounds uniquely like them. This album has potential to reach a massive range of tastes.

Again, with Everybody Knows My Business Now, we have an extraordinary contrast to the previous song. It’s obvious that considerable thought has gone into the construction of the track listing. This is a BIG song, with an impassioned delivery. There’s a minimalistic simplicity to it, but wrought into an impressive and powerful piece.

The final track is Cut You Loose, which starts with autoharp and a light, airy vocal before the band start a rolling build-up in the background, which fades out again just as swiftly. The cycle repeats, creating for me a nice tension of wonder as to how the song would eventually develop and resolve. There’s a moment around the halfway-ish mark where the vocal delivery made me think of Tom Waits, gruff, with a hint of madness glistening on the surface. A wonderful end to an utterly magnificent album. Georgia Knight continues to be one to watch, and she’s only going up from here.