The Arrivals Lounge

Today's episode is hosted by Nick. Alongside a selection of new music, news and a gig guide, it features an interview with Mick Harvey, discussing his new album with Amanda Acevedo, Golden Mirrors: The Uncovered Sessions Volume 1 and review of Mess Esque's new record, Jay Marie Comfort Me.

Mess Esque: Jay Marie, Comfort Me (Drag City/Remote Control)

Released 28th March 2025

Mess Esque’s third full-length, Jay Marie, Comfort Me, finds the group at their most ethereal and fully realised. What began during COVID as a remote collaboration between Brisbane’s Helen Franzmann (aka McKisko) and Melbourne’s Mick Turner (from Dirty Three) has blossomed into a remarkable project that combines each artist’s unique style; while still managing to sound wholly unique.

Mick originally approached Helen at the recommendation of Nick Huggins, a record producer who has a long history of working with Mick on various projects. Their mutual interest was immediate and —despite the challenges associated with living in separate states amidst lockdowns and border closures— the pair were swapping ideas in no time. Dream #12, their first album was released in April 2021 and a self-titled follow-up appeared in October of that same year. These early albums possess a distinctly lo-fi, bedroom-pop feel that is naive, charming and oddly soothing; despite the chaos dominating the world at the time of their release.

Jay Marie, Comfort Me was preceded by two singles, Take Me To Your Infinite Garden and Let Me Know You; both drastically different from the other. Take Me To Your Infinite Garden is the more expansive of the two, incorporating additional instruments and percussion, it evokes the full-band feel of Mess Esque’s live shows. Let Me Know You, on the other hand, is a stripped-back number containing no more than Helen’s dreamy vocals and some wandering synth. Delightfully modest —and an album highlight— it is perhaps the closest the group has come to sounding like McKisko.

Singles aside, there are plenty of other standouts. Album opener, Light Showroom, is driven by Mick’s distinctive guitar work, which —in addition to percussive flourishes and bursts of organ— provide a bedrock for Helen’s alluringly mysterious vocals. Liminal Space and Armour Your Amor, two older tracks previously released as a double single, have been subtly reworked for their inclusion on Jay Marie, Comfort Me. Another simple treasure is No Snow, the record’s final track, which features nothing more than Mick’s guitar and Helen’s vocals, a perfect synthesis of everything great about Mess Esque and a fitting end to a wonderful album.

With Jay Marie, Comfort Me, Mess Esque have formulated an almost perfect statement of their intent —and cast aside the shackles of being considered a mere side project in the process. Mick and Helen have a unique chemistry that compliments the other’s idiosyncrasies perfectly, joining forces (once again) to create a record that is often strange and beguiling, but always beautiful.

Nick Stephan