Josh Pyke’s warm, multidecade rapport with listeners began with 2005’s “Middle of the Hill,” a striking slice of indie folk that centers his free-flowing recollections about his childhood in suburban Sydney. That breakthrough track landed at No. 19 on triple j’s Hottest 100 poll, and reappeared on his more lushly embellished 2007 debut album Memories & Dust, which took home three ARIAs. Pyke’s balance of burnished melodies, confiding vocals, nostalgic themes, and orchestral elements continued to shine on 2009’s gold-selling “The Summer.” Yet, he could still mix up his sound at times, as heard in the anxious percussion and harmonica jags on 2013’s “Leeward Side.” Even after Pyke began dabbling in supergroups, children’s books, and the odd hip-hop cameo, he explored his longtime preoccupation with home on his—yes, home-recorded—2020 outing Rome. Observe his breezy mingling of romantic devotion and metaphysical musings on the album standout “You’re My Colour.” And as someone who rose to prominence in the mid-2000s, Pyke quietly transforms a touchstone of that era’s indie music with his slow, sumptuous 2024 take on The Shins’ “New Slang.”