Uone & Western – The Lone Wranglers – Beat & Path

Australia’s Uone & Western script a blockbuster in their first collaborative LP, ‘The Lone Wranglers’, a 10 track reel that is beyond strikingly beautiful, where the duo rises up as the coolest gun in the west. With a ‘live’ feel throughout, the producers recreate that band sound, injecting each cut with colors that are rarely seen across these electronic pastures.

While influences such as Pink Floyd, spaghetti westerns, Tarantino (who himself draws inspiration from Australian cinematography), and The Doors are clear across the record, the magic lies in how the story is told. Good stories can be heard every day. Now, good storytellers, that’s a completely different thing. Opener ‘Let Red Go’ appropriately sets the tone for the rest of ‘The Lone Wranglers’, and offers an insight into how Uone & his partner Nick West (Western) collaborate throughout the record, blending beats with dusty, twangy guitar licks, sampling extracts from various media, creating a unique collage that runs wild through the desert. Having provided a time and a place, the pair set for ‘Kaos Of Time’, which features the entrancing retro-esque vocals of Briony Taylor-Brooks. Here, they kick up a storm, deep and intimate, as Briony medicates the listener, while guitar riffs run unchecked, blazing trails through the smoke, for one of the album’s most noteworthy moments.

The third track, ‘Culture Of Knights’, centers around a ballad that heads for fiery sunset, where the Australian wranglers rely on intricate percussions and some dancefloor trickery, without ever losing the energy provided by ‘Kaos Of Time’. Next is ‘The Lone Wrangler’, which, just like ‘Let Red Go’, feels like a menagerie of western imagery, traversing straight through a powerful, techno-infused frame. Like heroes riding across the night, Uone & Western burn that midnight oil until they reach ‘Cotton In The Clouds’. A beautiful place where piano keys roll, as they search for a break in the skies, providing reflection and perspective. 

Fresh, the march continues with ‘The Tale Of The Seven Samurai’. Built for the dancefloor, a seductive groove proves a perfect foundation for reverb-drenched keys and oriental motifs to collide in what could have easily been a part of Django’s soundtrack. The follow-up, ‘Silky Moments’, grows into a tripped-out affaire, where voices echo, as guitar plucks spiral down into the subconscious, all the while serving as a perfect set up for ‘The Odyssey 9000’. Across seven minutes, the cut dives even deeper within, as the pair set controls for the heart of the sun. 

The last break comes under the title of ‘Forest Walker’, and it’s a gorgeous, ample picture. A piano-led piece, where birds and recordings of boots grazing the blades of grass enrich the sonic tapestry woven throughout ‘The Lone Wranglers’. As we all know, all good stories must come to an end. A good end. And this one is no exception. One ‘Last Showdown’ is required. The walk taken this far must count for something. And so, they unfold. They unfold one more groove; one for the wicked, as epic guitar licks summon massive synth stabs that intertwine for the definitive shoot-out anthem.

In the end, even if having the pair ride into the sunset, victorious, feels like something you’ve might have heard before, it’s nothing but the ending such a screening deserves. Uone & Western definitely come together as an iconic duo, and their vision for ‘The Lone Wranglers’ makes for one of the most creative albums of the year.

Uone & Western is now available via Beat & Path. Stream and buy here.

Tracklist:

1. Let Red Go
2. Kaos Of Time feat. Briony Taylor-Brooks
3. Culture Of Knights
4. The Lone Wrangler
5. Cotton in the Clouds
6. The Tale of the Seven Samurai
7. Silky Moments
8. The odyssey 9000
9. Forest Walker
10. Last Showdown