Pete Ross and the Sapphire - Pete Ross and the Sapphire (I-94 Bar Records)
“Pete Ross and the Sapphire” is a beautifully produced compilation album released in Sept 2026 by I-94 Bar Records. Just looking at the album cover (artwork by the Propella Agency) provides so much imagery and layers of texture to match the music found within.
It certainly is an eye-catching, simple and cool cover design that opens the door to 10 diverse tracks from the very talented Pete Ross in partnership with life partner Susy Sapphire. The album is a reflection of their punchy, alternative music style on record and live, and underliens a stage presence honed over 14 years of playing, mainly in Europe.
Those of us in Sydney’s Marrickville (one of the hippest suburbs on the plane) who attended the recent Marrickville Music Festival on a gorgeous spring Sunday afternoon bore witness to a mesmerising performance from Pete, Susy and their band.
There's a lot to like about Pete Ross and the Sapphire. Their confident, sassy and at times swampy sound sometimes borders on folk rock and is easy to like. It presents a classic partnership of cool boy and girl duets. Think of Nancy and Lee, among others.
Pete channels Nick Cave, Tex Perkins and other crooners-cum-performers with a deep, soulful vocal. There’s even a nod to The Man in Black, Johnny Cash. In Susy Sapphire, he has a true equal as they co-write the music and share a dynamic stage presence.
Pete is mostly on lead vocals and guitar, Susy sometimes taking the lead vocal and holding down the bottom end with a fluid style. Working with keyboard players and drums, they form a tight four-piece.
Living abroad and playing at festivals and smaller venues, mainly in Spain, Italy, France and Germany since 2011, Pete Ross and the Sapphire have refined their sound and established a keen following in Europe. Now based in Sydney, Pete and Susy’s harmonies and shared lead vocals, subtle sonic mood changes and variations in the pacing of their songs makes this compilation coherent and easy to listen to.
There are themes of love, the devil, lust and longing. Sure it’s all been done before yet here we have a modern take on the familiar. It sounds fresh and present. To me it’s a winning formula when the band invokes sexual tension, angst, murder mysteries and escapism. Isn’t that what we are searching for in troubled times? Pete and Susy follow a classic template of three-minute pop songs for the most part on this LP.
A compilation of previous releases from albums “Rolling Down the Lane” (2011) and “The Boundless Expanse” (2015), it really works. The opening three tracks are impactful and memorable with lots of twangy guitars, swampy bass backed by subtle keys and drums.
The LP opens with the beautiful “Mockingbird” (loosely based on the nursery rhyme “Hush Little Baby”) before offering “The Devil Inside” and “Somebody To Love”, the lead-off single and a Jefferson Airplane cover, sung by Susy.
The mood changes with two wonderful ballads; the first “Existing in a Bubble” where Susy takes the lead again, and “Worthy of Love” where Pete strips things back to the bone in a moving and poetic song full of contradictions. He asks the existential question ‘Are we essentially on the same page in our relationship?’. I think we have all been there!
“Pleased To Meet You” is a powerful, Nick Cave-inspired tune which a few listens reveals as a grim tale of love, betrayal, revenge and murder. Consider the lyric: “Pleased to meet you but I won’t be staying long”.
“Have You Seen The Incubus?” is the best track here. It’s a fast-paced, groovy nod to the ‘60s with stirring keys that’s been given a facelift for 2026. Pete shines with a soaring vocal the equal of Dave Vanian of The Damned at his best. It's sure to be a crowd favourite methinks.
By comparison the tracks that follow are more conventional. “Oh Jonah” is previously unreleased and the closer, “Give My Love To Rose”, is another nod to Johnny Cash.
Pete and Susy are working on new material with new Sydney-based backing players. A previous single “This Is War” will appear on their fourth forthcoming LP. So there’s plenty to look forward to in the near future.
If you like The Gun Club, The Bad Seeds, Beasts of Bourbon, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns or The Cramps at their bluesiest, this is a no risk purchase. Do yourself a huge flavour and check ‘em out. Worthy of your attention and worthy of lotsa love.
Pete Ross & The Sapphire launch their album at MoshPit in Sydney’s St Peters on the afternoon of October 30 in one of the venue’s final gigs before closing its doors.
