Brave and bold ballads.
In Carl Jung’s words, “Shame is a soul-eating emotion.” The psychological burdens of societal guilt can lead to self-annihilation. To recover from it is to be made anew. Australian singer-songwriter Michael Waugh’s latest record chronicles such a rebirth, offering a powerful musical expression of his gay identity and reflections on the oppressive methods of acculturation he experienced growing up in Victoria. Reflecting on his work, Waugh says, “It’s about making sense of the shame I was raised with. There’s a part of me that still feels like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, calling out when I say, ‘Here I am, this is who I am.‘”
The record opens with ‘We Are Here,’ where Waugh places himself alongside a litany of gay icons who have paved the way through oppression and repression with their bravery: “I am here with Ginsberg/ I am here with Baldwin/ I am here with Harvey, trying to change the law.”
Allen Ginsberg is a fitting counterpoint, as Waugh balances confessional lines with rhetorical devices and folk-rooted…
