ARE THE KIDS IN BED? GOOD. DIM THE LIGHT.

They wrote a story. Characters. A setting of the Australian bush as the landscape. Crumbling tin roofs, barbed wire fences, rural pubs and dense Australian bushland. The Devils Wilderness concept comes alive in the dense scrub of a Hawkesbury home Jean Elliot grew up in and feels like survived in. Jean describes it herself “Butcher, Lover, Runner is my form of personal escapism, getting to craft this detailed world of wily characters and landscapes I can sink into when the world gets too loud. But it’s also a love letter to rural and regional Australia, the danger and beauty of nature, and love itself.” And so, our journey into this world begins, Hole In Her Head forms its own presence as the introduction. As the dust is flung from the rusted strings the guitars bring you in. A transformation of time itself all in a few notes. Dark. Welcoming. Sit for the story and stay a while. A brief pause signals the beginning and she sings, talks and wanders. We hear our narrator open the story. Then hold your breath because Wiretrap takes you into an elevation. A highlight on this EP. Everything had my heart racing from the first chase. The intense musical highs acting out as cliffhanger moments while the tense lyrics feel like a tunnel crawl as the walls close in. What makes this even more remarkable is that it was recorded without a BPM Jean explains “It was so good to capture the raw energy of the tracks in a way only playing live really could.” Recorded completely live in a friend’s studio with vintage room mics capturing something raw and exposed to the nature of excitement. After a minute to let the heart rate slow, Beneath Your Sun arrives with ease and grace. The intensity settles. A new focus on story. One full of heartbreak. Then Devils Wilderness Theme and the line “I can smell the butcher.” To be an observer, a listener here, you know the conclusion is soon. It is terrifying. With a striking sense of describing the rough weather worn nature of the place in which the characters close in on their final moments, I don’t want to be in the middle of it. This alt rock, murder ballad, Australiana country masterpiece has been pulling us to this moment. Witch hunts. Ruthless gangs. Highwaymen that dust will bury. Stories that survive through words. And then Highwayman arrives and it is all here - the gripping sadness of the end, “take me with you when you go” ringing out across the expanse. I’m in awe. Jean Elliot, what can I truly say except wow. To think that this exists in the world is enough of a blessing in itself. Music not written as a single entity but as a collective soul, story and escape. A linear storyline, a host of characters, a fictionalisation of local Hawkesbury history and a lot of emotional rigour. If you like searching for clues and connecting dots, this little mystery is for you. I’ll sit with you in that expanse. MAYBE NOT IN THE DARK HOWEVER.