Track: We’re flattened by Holly Hebe’s sparkling ‘Hat Hair’ – another luminescent single from the Naarm/Melbourne chanteuse extraordinaire.
Holly Hebe has produced a series of stunning singles and an EP exemplified by her gossamer silk vocals and air of wistfulness and dreaming. Her new single ‘Hat Hair’ continues in this immersive style with its floating melodies, a touch of humour and air of dreamy melancholia. It’s another perfect slice of airy pop delivered …
News: Merseyside band The Mysterines announce new album ‘Afraid of Tomorrow’ and unleash powerful new single ‘Stray’ as a taster.
Merseyside band The Mysterines announce their new album Afraid of Tomorrows, the highly-anticipated follow up to their critically-acclaimed Top 10 debut album ‘Reeling’, is set for release on June 7 via Fiction Records and Virgin Music Group. Alongside the announcement, they have unveiled the brooding lead single ‘Stray’. Vocalist and guitarist Lia Metcalfe has barbed-wire vocals wrapped in gossamer …
Premiere: Golden Fang make a triumphant return with evocative new single ‘Blue Boy’ ahead of Anth Dymke-produced album ‘Small Worlds’
We are ever so honoured to bring you a first taste of Golden Fang‘s new album ‘Small Worlds’ with the brilliant evocative single ‘Blue Boy’. With production by the esteemed Anth Dymke (Jo Meares, Pony Boy and solo work), this is the first release from the band since their 2021 album ‘The Man With Tell …
Track: Beans release a psych-infused ‘Dreaming Daisy’ ahead of album release.
Fronted by The Murlocs drummer, Matt Blach, Melbourne garage/psych band Beans return with a dreamy, fuzzy psychedelic single ‘Dreaming Daisy as they prepare for the release of their new album ‘Boots N Cats’ in March 2024 through Fuzz Club. ‘Dreaming Daisy’ is a chemically enhanced journey, with a thundering ambulant bass in the chorus and jangling guitars …
Live Review plus Gallery: MONA FOMA Festival, Paul Kelly, Odeon Theatre, Hobart 18.02.2024
It’s a strangely warm night at the edge of the world in Hobart and it must be quite a shock for the troubadour extraordinaire Paul Kelly who has only just got back from performing on a ship in Antarctica. The thing is, though, Kelly and his band raised the temperature quite a bit on their …
Live Review plus Gallery: MONA FOMA Festival – Courtney Barnett and Stella Mozgawa, Odeon Theatre, Hobart 17.02.2024
Mona Foma, run by the iconic Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, is a summer festival of music and art, running from 15 February to 2 March 2024. This festival is the ying to Dark Mofo’s yang – a celebration in the sparkling light as opposed to the gothic wintry dark. Perhaps making …
Album Review: Eilish Gilligan is ‘The Final Girl’ – a cathartic journey through pop’s dark labyrinth.
A longtime favourite of ours here at Backseat Mafia, Eilish Gilligan continues to release the most evocative and distinctive music that is without peer. Her electronic pop is differentiated by her ethereal vocals and her passionate delivery, soaked in an air of pain and regret and yet distilled by a resilience and strength that creates …
Track: Norway’s Oliver Hohlbrugger channels the Velvets and Bowie in his über cool track ‘Velveteen’ off forthcoming album ‘Nothing’s Changed, Everything Is New’
The new single from Norwegian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Oliver Hohlbrugger is infused with an über cool panache that just oozes a sixties, studied, Rayban-framed world. Accompanied by an enigmatic monochrome video with only the most subtle movements, Hohlbrugger’s vocals have a deep resonance that echoes Bowie at times and Lou Reed at others over …
Album Review: Royel Otis make a stunning debut with their luminescent album ‘Pratts & Payne’ ahead of Australian, North American and European tour
We here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia have followed Royel Otis (consisting of members Otis Pavlovic and Royel Maddell) ever since hearing their single ‘Oysters In My Pocket’ back in 2021 with great fascination. This single has been followed by a series of indelible releases that have cemented their place in indie pop royalty. Undoubtedly …
Track: It’s the ‘Last Frontier’ for Ride – their stunning cinematic second single from forthcoming album ‘Interplay’, along with tour news
All is well in the world when we get another release from shoegaze maestros Ride in anticipation of their upcoming album ‘Interplay’, due out March 29 via Wichita and PIAS. This time, ‘Last Frontier’ takes up the baton from earlier single ‘Peace Sign’ (reviewed here) and sets a frenetic pace with all the thunder and blast of the …