The Evening Visits....And Stays For Years

Peter Milton Walsh lived an itinerant life before recording The Apartments’ debut album — starting out in Brisbane, as part of The Go-Betweens’ circle of friends, he’d move from Brisbane to Sydney, then New York, then a stint touring as a member of Laughing Clowns, before eventually landing in London, where he’d make The Evening Visits. It marks Walsh out as a songwriter dealing in detached observation, a reserve extended to the palette of the album — autumnal guitars, weeping strings, Walsh’s winnowing voice. Yet there’s something steely about songs like “Sunset Hotel” and “Speechless With Tuesday” — cool and collected, they refuse to shift their gaze.