The Straits

This compilation soundtrack for a new Australian television crime series set in the area between the tropical Queensland town of Cairns and across the Torres Straits islands to Papua New Guinea provides a welcome showcase for the too-often neglected music of this unique region. Put together by musician and producer David Bridie, who has a long history of working with indigenous Aboriginal and Melanesian artists, his judicious choices create a fascinating snapshot of the sounds emanating from the far north. The inclusion of three historical tracks from octogenarian Torres Strait singer Seaman Dan, as well as the delightful ‘Coconut’ from legendary Thursday Island singer Rita Mills, shows proper respect for the past, while the bulk of the tracks are of a more recent vintage.

With a suitably relaxed vibe and beautiful gospel-inspired island harmonies permeating the entire album, PNG songman George Telek contributes two stringband-based tracks (‘To Niba’ and ‘Mama Mi Laikim Yu’), while Mer-Murray Island's King Kadu offers up his classic lullaby-like ‘Gormi Ama.’ Keeping things fresh and sassy, younger Melanesian hip-hop/rap artists like Ngaiire, Maupower, Airileke, DadiiGi and Haitian-Australian Voodoo Dred are also on board, highlighting the current Western influences on the local music scene. Meanwhile, Bridie's own evocative, ambient keyboard tracks link the contrasting selections together very nicely. The TV series itself is a trying-too-hard Aussie indigenous drama, focusing on drug smuggling across the tropical waters of the region. But don't let that put you off seeking out this fine collection of contemporary Torres Strait music.