Edit history

In October 2023, Sydney songwriter and musician Dave Fletcher released his debut solo album Sunset Elegies, a record that brought together a large group of friends to record songs that he had written over a ten year period and numerous recording sessions before, after further pandemic-induced delays, it triumphantly saw the light of day. The album draws on wide-ranging influences, from indie and alt-rock, to post-rock and slowcore. The guitars jangle and chime, diving headfirst into knotty, swirling and twisting arrangements, distortion and angular beauty. The rhythm section (including Mr Bungle's Danny Heifetz) provides the dynamic framework, while Fletcher adds emotive and heartfelt vocals. Fletcher's musical journey has taken him from his hometown of Townsville in Northern Queensland to Brisbane in the mid 90s, where he found inspiration in the scene that included Powderfinger, Regurgitator, Midget, Six Foot Hick, and Screamfeeder. But it was the singular sound of enigmatic Sydney band Crow — with their strange alternate tunings, hypnotic rhythms, and cathartic lurching from angst to euphoria — who captured Dave’s imagination to become a crucial influence on his early songwriting. A return to Townsville saw Fletcher play in a number of bands, including psychedelic sludge band Fear of the Library, before seeing Crow play in Brisbane and Sydney at the end of the 90s inspired a move south to the NSW capital. Since then, Dave has played in many groups across the last two decades, singing and playing guitar with Hopetoun favourites Golden Mean, who recorded a 5-track EP in 2006. He also played bass with Ya Aha, then more recently bass in noise rock trio Pallet and currently guitar with the elegant pop of Manners Park (featuring members of his beloved Crow). With songs and ideas spanning back to his days fronting Fear of the Library in the tropics, the album represents both the debut and retrospective work of a long-time misfit crafting strange odes to his outsider heroes. The album title and concept behind it compares the admiration of a sunset at day’s end to reflecting on finished relationships, changing perceptions of self, and the loss through death of friends and family.