Local the Neighbour assembled a fine selection of Australian musicians for his Rolling Stone AU/NZ ‘In My Room’ session.
Local the Neighbour is the artistic moniker of Melbourne-based musician David Quested, an artist in the mould of Alex G.
He released his second EP, VALLEY pt.2, last year, working with an impressive background team including Melina Duterte, aka Jay Som, who’s worked as a producer for boygenius, on mixing duties, and Greg Obis (Slow Pulp, MJ Lenderman), who mastered the record.
A lyrically intriguing collection, Local the Neighbour explored such varied topics as his rural upbringing, tennis, and mental health. The EP closes with the tender “Barnaby”, which is a sweet dedication to his beloved pet dog of the same name.
“One day he was sleeping on the couch and I just felt the need to tell him how much I loved him in song form, so here we are,” he explains. “Dog owners get it, and believe it or not, this song has made multiple people tear up at gigs and is the most requested song when we play live.”
The Alex G comparison is especially felt on second track “The Cure”, which sounds like the Philadelphia lo-fi master at his most alt-country (think “Bobby”, from his 2017 album Rocket), but Local the Neighbour’s EP isn’t a mere homage; rather, he uses such DIY antecedents to inspire and build his own introspective sound.
And DIY’s the operative word for VALLEY pt.2, which Local the Neighbour wrote, self-recorded, and self-produced in its entirety. “For me, music is always most exciting when there’s a bit of a curveball,” he said about his EP last year.
There was nothing insular about Local the Neighbour’s Rolling Stone AU/NZ ‘In My Room’ session, however, with Quested bringing along Leigh Fisher, who plays drums with Missy Higgins, Angus & Julia Stone, and more, The Jungle Giants’ bassist Andrew Dooris, Ollie Cox (Juice Webster, Maple Glider), and Paul Kascamanidis (Dylan Joel, Josh Cashman) to help bring his intimate music to life.
Watch Local the Neighbour’s full ‘In My Room’ session above.
Local the Neighbour’s VALLEY pt.2 is out now.
