They call it the sophomore jinx, the second-album jitters, the post-debut blues. Whatever the name, it’s the reason why Alanis Morissette went platinum with Jagged Little Pill and bust on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and why Hootie and the Blowfish were never heard from again after 1996. It’s crushed rappers (Puffdaddy ‘Forever’) and yodelers (Jewel ‘Spirit’). But not Australia’s Josh Pyke.
After an ARIA-nomination for his first effort, Memories & Dust, Pyke – curses be damned – kept right on going.
‘I’ve often thought creativity inspires more creativity,’ Pyke says, saying that he has become more prolific, not less with the pressure of a career as a ‘professional’ musician (the quotes are his, not mine). ‘I don’t like when people take four years between a first and second album, especially if the first album went pretty well. I feel like you should get straight back on the horse and cement your position.’
The strategy has definitely worked for Pyke on Chimney’s Afire – released just one year after Memories & Dust. On Chimney’s Pyke took on the role of sole producer and as a result crafted an album that is more cohesive and studied than Memories without departing from it.
Chimney’s Afire, like its predecessor, draws its greatest strength from Pyke’s songwriting style, an intimate reflection that bottles his nostalgia for his childhood into each song.
‘The way I measure my happiness as an adult is against my happiness as a child,’ explains Pyke, ‘because when you are a kid the type of happiness you are experiencing is very naïve and it is not tied up with things like money or possessions or a career. You feel happy because you are running around and playing with friends. A lot of the nostalgia in my songs is me trying to figure out how to distill those emotions and use them in my adult life.’
Having smashed right through the sophomore slump, Josh Pyke will undoubtedly be running around all over the country playing for a long time to come.
