I always loved the Australian chamber pop group My Friend the Chocolate Cake. Today’s song The Boat Song comes from the 2002 album Curious (image inset). This melancholic instrumental is one of the more sombre tracks on the album although the album isn’t exactly ‘uptempo’, rather more ambient and atmospheric. The Boat Song is restrained but has this alluring depth of intimacy and transcendence. It is kind of experimental and repetitive, but I like where it takes my mind.
The album Curious peaked at No. 14 on the ARIA chart. I received this album in the mail as a gift for having seen (founder) David Bridie and Archie Roach in concert and it remains one of my most cherished albums. I became a bit of a band groupie of the Cake and David Bridie’s solo work and watched them live all over the place and got the pleasure to talk to them on occasion.
From All Music:
The album Curious is littered with clever string arrangements by cellist Helen Mountfort and violinist Hope Csutoros, and the lush overtones of David Bridie’s piano and Wurlitzer round out the lead section nicely. Bridie handles the majority of the songwriting (sometimes sharing the credit with Mountfort and others not in the band) and proves a talent for composing engaging changes and insightful lyrics. A far cry from the goofy name and band photo, Curious is a sophisticated affair.…
References:
1. My Friend the Chocolate Cake – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
A chocolate cake sounds like a sweet friend to have! 🙂
On a more serious, My Friend the Chocolate Cake are entirely new to me. Chamber pop is not a genre I frequently listen to. Like with classical music, it’s not because I dislike chamber pop. It just so happens that most music I hear falls outside the genre.
“The Boat Song” sounds pretty soothing. I also sampled some of the other tracks on “Curious.” In addition to their other instrumentals, I also like their tracks with vocals. Their music has a warm sound.
We have spoked about them before and Bridie’s ‘Hotel Radio’.
Check out the Cake’s ‘Mangrove Song’:
Thanks, Matt, my bad (memory)! “Mangrove Song” sounds really good. I like the pronounced bass action (shocker!), as well as the vocals.