Album Review: The Bats’ Robert Scott and Dallas Henley release low-fi home recorded delight ‘Level 4’
As the main songwriter for the wonderful The Bats, Robert Scott needs no introduction (read my recent interview with him). Scott has partnered with Dallas Henley, Scott’s co-owner of an Art Gallery – Pea Sea Art – in Port Chalmers Dunedin, to release a very low-fi and extremely intimate collection of absolutely gorgeous songs. Both …
Premiere: We Set Sail launches the thundering single ‘The Valium Phase’ ahead of album release
We are very pleased to premiere the opening track to Brisbane band We Set Sail‘s forthcoming third album ‘Ritual and Ceremony’. And it’s a blinder. ‘The Valium Phase’ is an explosive, passionate blast to the ears – stabbing guitars and pounding rhythms with vocals that bleed emotion and wrench the heart. This track has a …
Premiere: Jessica releases the ethereal and ghostly single ‘Silence’
We are very pleased to premiere the video for Sydney musician Jessica‘s new track ‘Silence’ on Backseat Mafia. Jessica’s voice is as majestic and ethereal as Kate Bush’s and ‘Silence’ is a brief but so very haunting and evocative song. Deep strings underpin the gorgeous floating vocals and create a hypnotic drone. There is a …
Track: Little Suspicions deliver a breath of fresh air with the assured single ‘Lime’
There is a cool and assured swagger to ‘Lime’, the new track by Little Suspicions, that gives it a bright and fresh vigour. The attendant element of theatricality – crooning vocals, a kind of sixties gloss to the thundering reverb-soaked guitars, sweeping strings and doo-wop backing vocals – gives this track an indelible sheen. Of …
Album Review: Roof Beams’ ‘This Life Must Be Long’ is a raw and graceful journey
Roof Beams have recorded an album ‘This Life Must Be Long’ filled with the most beautiful and expressive tracks. The instrumentation is delicate, the vocals raw and emotive, clever intelligent lyrics and themes and the production unfussy and raw. The band is showcases the songwriting skills of Nathan Robinson who writes of the travails of …
Album review: A. Smyth unveils the imposing and beautiful album ‘Last Animals’
‘Lost Animals’ by Irish artist A. Smyth has an intriguing mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation that creates a delicate fusion between a folk songwriting tradition and more rugged indie rock roots. The golden thread throughout, though, is an ear for the sweetest of melodies and an indelible melancholia that permeates every track. The result …
Track: Julia Why? unveils glowing, mesmerizing track ‘Waiting for Time’
‘Waiting For Time’, the new track from Australian artist Julia Why?, positively shimmers out of the speakers with a glowing and mesmerizing sheen. Julia Why? is essentially the songwriting talents of Julia Wylie and the track was written across London, Paris and Athens as COVID19 spread its germy fingers across the globe. Hauntingly melancholic and …
News: Australian indie royalty Eskimo Joe announce national tour and release video for new single ’99 Ways’
Western Australian band Eskimo Joe are veritable and venerable indie giants in the Australian music scene, and it is great to see them back after a hiatus, firstly with single ‘Say Something’ last year and now with a follow up, ’99 Ways’. They have also announced news of an Australia-wide tour playing their first two …
Track: Polish Club unveils poppy new dance floor filler with a dark heart – ‘Stop For A Minute’
Sydney duo Polish Club have released a unabashedly dance floor filler of a single in ‘Stop For A Minute’, one that, despite the apparent gloss, deals with some not so savoury themes. The instrumentation is fast and pacy with an insistent rhythm section, and sustained guitars. The high impact vocals add a funky soul touch. …
News: Manchester Orchestra announce new album ‘The Million Masks of God’ and release spectral single ‘Bed Head’
Atlanta-based giants, Manchester Orchestra, have announced details of their new album ‘The Million Masks of God’ set for release on April 30th, 2021 via Loma Vista Recordings. To whet the appetite, the track ‘Bed Head’ has just been released – an epic, cinematic single filled with the passion and intensity you expect from this band. …