Ensemble Offspring Sings an Ambitious Ode to the 90s

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, June 5, 2021

Ensemble Offspring’s latest project The Surge was an ode to the 1990s and its impact on Australian life. Drawing on a host of themes – environmental concerns, Indigenous relations, the emergence of the internet and the flowering of the arts sector in Australia – the project impressively weaved together these disparate elements into a unique program of both lofty and lighter fare.

Redfern Address, from Sydney electropop guru Paul Mac, featured an agreeable blend of dub-like electronica with significant snippets of Keating’s landmark 1994 speech.  Essentially a fixed media piece, with minimal contributions from the live ensemble until right near its end, it nonetheless set the tone for the evening, Keating’s stirring words a powerful reminder of the ongoing challenges facing Australia’s attempts to reconcile itself with its Indigenous peoples.

It segued neatly into the first of two works that were actually written in the 90s. Peter Sculthorpe’s Tropic (1992). Written for (the guitarist) John Williams’ ensemble Attacca, the work referenced well-known Sculthorpe themes, particularly the Arnhem Land chant featured in some of his better-known pieces such as Djilile and Kakadu. Despite being for many years our most celebrated composer, Sculthorpe’s music seems to have slipped off the radar a bit.  It was a pleasure to be drawn back into the familiar soundworld that characterised Australian contemporary music for roughly 50 years, with beautifully expressive solos from guitarists Andrew Blanch and Vladimir Gorbach as well as delicate, nuanced lines from violinist Veronique Serret and clarinettist Jason Noble.

The first of the concert’s five (!) world premieres, Jessica Wells’ brief Diminishing Species also introduced visuals from Blue Mountains artists Peachey and Mosig, which for this piece consisted of grainy footage of the Australian wilderness. Characterised by insistent percussive single-note ostenati, the piece alluded to the gradual erosion of the eco-system by incrementally reducing the number of pitches heard, until we were left with a simple minor 3rd. 

Felicity Wilcox’s Tipping Point was the longest and most involved work of the evening.  With more modern-looking visuals further accentuating the environmental theme, a gently flowing minimalistic quality soon gave way to bursts of frenetic energy from the full ensemble, featuring virtuosic marimba work from Artistic Director Claire Edwardes. A coda containing a drone from the composer’s “90s Korg Prophecy synth” and the always mesmerising sound of the waterphone accompanied greyscale visuals of a young girl on a mountain, before leaving it to the two guitarists to see out the work on a subdued, reflective note. 

From this point on, the program seemed to depart from more sombre themes into progressively lighter territory. Wells’ equally brief Technophiles was a whirlwind of ubiquitous 90s sounds – from Nokia ringtones, dial-up modems and Nintendo bleeps to the “You’ve Got Mail!” catch cry. 

Nigel Westlake’s Tall Tales But True, another Attacca commission from 1992, initially occupied a similar soundworld to the earlier Sculthorpe piece before leading to the same bustling drive common to much of Westlake’s music, with infectiously energetic playing from pianist Sonya Lifschitz.

The third Wells piece of the night – This Is the Nineties – was an out-and-out nostalgia trip, fusing a potpourri of 90s hits with a visual avalanche of familiar faces and places from the era. 

I managed to pick out a few names – MC Hammer, Right Said Fred (the opening e-drum lick from “I’m Too Sexy” was unmistakable), Offspring (it had to happen), and maybe even some Meatloaf, before concluding in grungy mode with Silverchair’s Anthem for the Year 2000.  Meanwhile the screen was bedecked with the likes of Hawke, Keating, Hewson, Howard, Pauline, Kerry Packer, Richard Morecroft, Juan Antonio, Mabo, Novotel, Homebush, the Republic referendum and many more.

It was left to IT industry figurehead Larry Smarr to round off the evening, in Robert Davidson’s Netsurf, an indie-pop tribute to the launch of the world’s first popular web browser Mosaic in 1993. The smiling countenance and avuncularly musical voice of Smarr (from a contemporary interview) were given the full treatment, with large chunks of talk melodicised over a medium-paced techno throb. The repeated utterances of certain keywords were enough to induce plenty of smiles and chuckles from the audience, bringing things to a close on a decidedly cheerful note that augured well for the obligatory post-show bar hang.

Midway through the show, Edwardes recounted the ensemble’s experiences of performing this program in far-flung regional NSW towns and the warm reception that ensued.  The challenge of devising a program that maintains that kind of broad appeal seemed to have been beautifully met in this thematically ambitious but highly accessible musical event. It certainly went down well in Casula.

The Surge has been touring Australia and the final wrap-up will take pace in Brisbane on Friday 20 August in a huge show with Queensland band Topology, presented by Dots+Loops.