That closeness ties together Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under. It’s a stretch to refer to it as her “second solo album,” as the accompanying press materials do, since it was released to coincide with her current tour of Australia and New Zealand, and it’s dominated by live performances (including several covers and two songs about Vegemite), with just a few studio tracks. The whole album feels like an enjoyable trifle cranked out for the hell of it. Palmer is clearly enjoying herself, whether via the ukulele-assisted electro-pop “Map Of Tasmania” (which debates pubic-hair habits), or collaborating with friends like Tom Dickins of The Jane Austen Argument, a.k.a. The Australian Dresden Dolls (“Bad Wine And Lemon Cake”), or letting Mikelangelo of The Black Sea Gentlemen sing his “A Formidable Marinade,” which sounds like an excerpt from a pro-sodomy Broadway musical.
But the album’s best moments happen when Palmer settles down and plays by herself, like on “On An Unknown Beach” or “Australia,” or her cover of Nick Cave’s “The Ship Song,” which closes the breezy album with a quietly devastating reminder of Palmer’s considerable talent.
