Mess Esque

Mess Esque is a collaboration between Australian musicians Mick Turner and Helen Franzmann whose thoughtful, experimental indie rock ebbs and flows between moments of fragile beauty and great dynamic swells. The duo made their debut in 2021 with Dream #12 followed later in the year by a second self-titled album.

Mick Turner, a founding member of instrumental post-rock icons Dirty Three, and Helen Franzmann, better known for her eclectic work as McKisko, began working together during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, recording remotely between their respective homes in Melbourne and Brisbane. The music that emerged was often slow and dreamlike, with Franzmann's airy vocals casting a hypnotic spell over Turner's distinctive guitar work. Both meandering and deliberate, the duo captures a wide range of tones and emotions within a single song.

Musically prodigious in their early days, Mess Esque released their debut album, Dream #12, in April 2021 and followed it up with a second eponymous full-length in October of the same year. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi