Track: James Leonard Hewitson returns with a blast with a new single ‘Temporary Values’ and announces new EP ‘Commercial’
James Leonard Hewitson highly impressed Backseat Mafia early last year with his album ‘Only The Noise Will Save Me’ – classic pop songs of the highest caliber, backed up by a wall of sound that snaps and crackles at pace. We found Hewitson’s delivery to be witty, self-effacing and studied – a laconic stroll through …
See: Melbourne’s Anatomy Class reveal furry, cute new animated video for their brilliant track ‘Welcome to the Ages’
Backseat Mafia premiered the brilliant single ‘Welcome to the Ages’ from Melbourne’s Anatomy Class last month, and the band has just released a strangely comforting video for the track. Directed & Animated by Eleanor & Giovanni, the video follows a knitted ingénue as he falls into a surreal wormhole of psychedelic backgrounds, floating on streams …
EP Review: Brisbane’s Lucy Francesca Dron releases ‘Leftovers’: a collection of jazzy, intimate and beautiful songs
Lucy Francesca Dron‘s new EP ‘Leftovers’ showcases her vibrant and dynamic songwriting and inherent style as well as a voice soaked in late night excess, pain and poetry. ‘Leftovers’ is pure theatricality and poise: torchlit songs that shine with passion. First track ‘What Is Next’ has almost a jazzy element and a fast complex pace, …
Premiere: Hollow States release a dynamic and confronting video for the gorgeous and mesmerising track ‘I’ll Leave’
Sydney’s Hollow States consists of Huck Hastings and brothers Joel and Hayden Woolf. Of course, we’ve met Huck Hastings before here at Backseat Mafia as a solo artist: his beautiful album ‘Cheers to Progress’ received an 8.5/10 from me and was described as being a cinematic sweep full of longing, love and loss. It is …
Premiere: tunnel traffic returns with the beautiful evocative track ‘Next To Me’, plus announces new album ‘Take My Power’
We are very honoured to premiere the first music in over eighteen months from the glorious tunnel traffic , and it is a welcome return. Sidelined by the horror show of 2020, tunnel traffic – essentially the solo work of Adam Hachey – has released a very personal and imperious track ‘Next To Me’: an …
EP Review: Sydney duo Salarymen’s debut EP ‘Scene Change’ is an effervescent ray of sparkling sunshine, plus tour news.
There is a bright ray of sunshine searing through all the tracks in Salarymen‘s incandescent debut ‘Scene Change’, even when at their most melancholic. There is an indelible sixties flavour: a sort of indie folk thread with suede jackets, knee high boots, mini skirts and fringes: a bright lollipop bounce that blasts forward at full …
Track: Melbourne’s Meghna releases ‘My DNA’: a haunting and atmospheric elegy to poverty and struggle.
Meghna Mitra releases the most sublime music under her name Meghna and her new single ‘My DNA’ belies her youth with its world weary tones and chilling themes. Over a sparse trip-hop electronic beat, Meghna’s evocative vocals recount the experiences of her Indian parents and grandparents and the horrors and realties of a life in …
Track: Sydney’s Magnetic Heads unveil the gorgeous and graceful track ‘Time of Your Life’, and announce new album ‘Moral Outage’ for August
There is a sparse and melodic grace to the new single from Sydney band Magnetic Heads (the work of singer/songwriter Des Miller and producer/musician Liam Judson (Belles Will Ring, Lewis Goldmark)). Open, thrumming and celestial instrumentation provides a comforting bedrock for Miller’s elegant vocals, sometime soaring, sometimes speaking, always enigmatic and posed, replete with backing …
Track: The Novus get all psychedelic on us with the brilliant single ‘Castaway’, and announce tour news
Last time we heard from The Novus, they ripped up the tarmac with a blistering, angry blast of ‘I Serve Not’ (see my review here). Now, in advance of the release of their EP entitled ‘Thaleia Standing’ on 18 June 2021, The Novus have maintained the rage but in a much more restrained and very …
News: New Zealand’s Womb announce EP ‘Holding a Flame’, out through Flying Nun Records, and tour dates
Shoegaze/dream pop exponents extraordinaire, Womb, from Pōneke (Wellington) have just announced the release of a new EP – ‘Holding a Flame’ – on 23 June 2021 through the inestimable and legendary Flying Nun Records. What a powerful combination. To launch this event, Womb will be embarking on a Aotearoa/New Zealand-wide tour. ‘Holding a Flame’ is a …