A husband holds the cold hand of his dead wife and thinks it the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. A man down on his luck, keeps losing his teeth. A lounge lizard spends her pension at the Moreland Hotel pokies room. A man rides his mobility scooter with wilful abandon down supermarket aisles.

These are all scenes from The Death of Foley’s Mall, the new album from Wilding out now on Half A Cow Records.

After losing his day job, Wilding spent time procrastinating at a faded mid-century café inside the yellowed decaying walls of Foley’s Mall. He observed passers-by. He imagined their lives. They seemed to personify the building, where memories were more tangible than the present. A parade of bargain hunters with remarkable human stories of love, loss, grief and hope.

Wilding has captured these stories within 11 character study songs he wrote about people who live in his suburb of Coburg, Victoria. These are songs about old people. Mostly. These are nostalgic songs, indeed. But they are songs entirely with heart and compassion. Part fact, part fiction. But fully real.

Recorded by Fabian Hunter at his Fishbones Tone Shack studio, The Death of Foley’s Mall is a charming collection of songs that encompass punchy, infectious guitar tunes, mournful ballads, and towering chamber-pop. Sometimes Wilding is effervescently melodic and upbeat, reminding you of classic British bands likes Supergrass and Madness. At other times he draws on the more wistful moments from artists like The Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach and The Kinks. Despite this stylistic diversity, Wilding makes these songs flow across an album unified by its lyrical themes of loss, change and grief.

It's available as a Bandcamp download or on your chosen streaming service.

Artwork: Andrea Jolley