A Life Full of Farewells

A concept album dedicated to failure and loss? Australia’s Apartments magically turn dour moments of crisis into musical epiphanies, as each tune of their stunning 1995 release slowly unfolds and the gray storm clouds give way to bursts of sunlight. Peter Milton Walsh is a humble singer and a plaintive acoustic guitar strummer. He settles safely into mid-tempo gaits that provide him with the necessary room to stretch out his everyday worries. And they are many. After opening with the relatively upbeat trumpet pop of “Things You’ll Keep,” Walsh shifts into a glorious downward spiral of bad love and worse fortune. “The Failure of Love Is a Brick Wall,” “You Became My Big Excuse,” “Thank You for Making Me Beg,” the titles keep the score. The cumulative effect is mesmerizing, each track adding a layer of difficulty and existential weight, all leading to “All The Time In the World,” a tribute to the working father he barely knew, who in retirement paints the empty rooms while his son questions his own familial lapses. A touching, personal collection.