<p><span><span>- <em>Deadly Hearts - Walking Together</em> is the third installment in <strong>ABC Music</strong>'s <em>Deadly Hearts</em> series - where contemporary aboriginal artists cover iconic songs.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>It's been interesting to follow the progression in the series. The first edition, from 2017, was full of classic songs from from legendary indigenous artists. The second album last year broadened the field a little, adding a few more recent artists to the songs covered.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>This third version continues on that trajectory, with a couple of very recent tunes and some selections out of left field. There are still some classic selections, with <strong>DRMNGNOW</strong> and <strong>Kobie Dee</strong> doing hip hop reworkings of <strong>Archie Roach</strong> and <strong>Jimmy Chi</strong>'s <em>Bran Nue Dae</em> soundtrack. <strong>Southeast Desert Metal</strong> turning <strong>Midnight Oil</strong>'s <em>Beds Are Burning</em> into an '80's metal song sung in Arrernte language is a delight.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><strong>Miiesha</strong>'s gospel choir version of <strong>Brooks And Dunn</strong>'s <em>Neon Moon</em> may seem a bit surprising, but then gospel and country have both long been staples of musical life in remote Aboriginal communities.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Miiesha also has one of her own songs covered, with <strong>Ziggy Ramo</strong> adding rap verses to <em>Tjitji</em>. That and <strong>Aodhan</strong>'s version of <strong>Tia Gostelow</strong>'s <em>Always</em> are excellent reminders that Aboriginal culture, like all cultures, is always evolving and not preserved as a museum exhibit.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>It was always a beautiful song, but <strong>Stan Walker</strong> and <strong>Isaiah Firebrace</strong>'s version of <em>Don't Dream It's Over</em> adds a new dimension to the trans-Tasman personnel of <strong>Crowded House</strong>. Here the two reality tv show winners, each indigenous to their land, sing in a mixture of Yorta Yorta language and Te Reo Maori. This song about solidarity and hope highlights the links between these two Tangata Whenua, as the Maori say - people of the land.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>A bit more unexpected are the versions of songs by <strong>Pnau</strong> and the <strong>Bee Gees</strong>, though <strong>Mii Kaisha</strong> does note that the Bee Gees, who were born in England and based in the US when they had their biggest hits, grew up on Ningy Ningy country in Redcliffe.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>My personal highlight of the album is <strong>Mitch Tambo</strong>'s autotuned EDM version of <strong>Vanessa Amorosi</strong>'s <em>Absolutely Everybody</em>, complete with didjeridu and clapsticks. Most white Australians had probably forgotten this part of our own culture, but here it is - chosen as an iconic song and joyously re-recorded. And why not? Culture isn't driven just by critical consensus. This song was sung most memorably at the Sydney Olympics - where <strong>Cathy Freeman</strong> ran a victory lap carrying the aboriginal flag; where <strong>Bangarra Dance Theatre</strong>'s immense feat of choreography brought both <strong>Nikki Webster</strong> and contemporary aboriginal dance to the world. At the closing ceremony, Midnight Oil played in all black, emblazoned with just the word "sorry"; and <strong>Darren Hayes</strong> of <strong>Savage Garden</strong> knowingly flouted the Olympic ban on the aboriginal flag for his performance. And amongst it all was Vanessa Amorosi singing her message of unity - "everybody breathes, everybody bleeds".</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Aboriginal history in this country is full of tragedy and conflict; protests, court battles, hard work done behind the scenes keeping culture alive. But it's also a history of celebration, arts and sport, love and friendship, mundane interactions that slowly heal the fractures caused by the original theft of this land two centuries ago.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>Walking Together</em> is the subtitle of this album, and it is a nice stroll through many different aspects of indigenous culture. For all kinds of reasons, we can all, at times, reduce aboriginal culture to a simplification or abstraction. But it is of course a living breathing thing, that encompasses five-hundred different nations and three quarters of a million individuals. Whether it is celebrating the language and songs distinctive to aboriginal culture or the things that unite us, all together, Deadly Hearts is a positive step in that journey of walking together to a better country.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Andy Paine.</span></span></p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X3WBgd4yR64" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>