Benedict Moleta’s Illuminated Numbers

Boorloo/Perth songwriter Benedict Moleta has released his ninth album Illuminated Numbers, an elegant collection of folk-pop songs that have Moleta’s off-the-cuff poetry and lyricism at their core.

Now based in Canberra on Ngambri and Ngunnawal Country (working on a PhD at the Australian National University!), it’s Moleta’s first album of new songs since 2013’s The Magical World making the timing of this album feel like an ode to his hometown. 

It’s an unadorned record, with sparse cover art complimented by sparse arrangements featuring Moleta’s voice and guitar alongside keyboard contributions from Julian Bolleter and vocal support from Miranda Pollard, both long-time collaborators. The trio bottle the essence of youthful aging, tapping into an earnest vibe of bittersweet Gen-X and millennial ennui and nostalgia. 

Young love, lost friends, fractured families, Perth’s late 90s street skateboarding scene is illuminated with elegant piano runs, muted guitar chords and hushed vocals from Moleta, Bolleter and Pollard. Illuminated Numbers is an intimate record; one that seems to summarise Benedict’s entire young adulthood (plus more) in 12 magnetic vignettes. 

Pam Boland caught up with Benedict ahead of the hometown launch for Illuminated Numbers; they get into everything from 90s skate zines to the significance of collaboration and preservation, even a live perfomance of a deep cut from the Moleta archives.

Catch Benedict at Lyrics Underground on Sunday December 8 with Elk Bell