Gold Coast folk-country duo Louise O’Reilly and Paul Hannan are on a bit of a roll, to say the least. To bag the prestigious Grant McLennan Fellowship award for songwriting – and the $25,000 bounty that goes with it – in the same week their second album is released must be quite a shot in the arm for a band still working day jobs to support their musical ambitions. A first listen of Turn Your Love Up proves the plaudits are deserved; Hannan’s impressive gothic guitar twang, O’Reilly’s understated vocals, and a slew of sorrowful tales of lost love combine to make an appealing sound that sticks in your head. Single ‘Love Is A Devil’ sees O‘Reilly announcing “Getting to know you was quite a battle, trying to lose you is another matter,” before Hannan threatens to unleash a devastating solo. ‘Bleeding Heart’ is gently mournful and showcases the duo’s well-worked harmonies, while the more upbeat ‘Waiting For An Avalanche’ shows they can do snappy pop when they set their minds to it. Elsewhere the bittersweet ‘The Past Is Furious’ rattles and stomps with surprising force, before ‘I Saw’ sees them finish with another slice of brooding folk melancholia. With the added exposure of being award winners, an upcoming national tour, and now a new album that showcases a significant step forward in songwriting for the Gold Coast band, leaving the day jobs behind surely can’t be too far away. (Crawler Records)