Arun Kendall, Author at Backseat Mafia

Premiere: Sydney supergroup The Finalists unveil evocative video for the shimmering track ‘Hunting Knife’

Last year’s debut album ‘First’ by The Finalists (reviewed by me here) was a highly impressive entrance: I summed it up as being a collection of deeply personal songs that…

View Post

View Post

Track: New Zealand’s Voodoo Bloo unleash ‘MMA’: a caustic blast of untrammelled energy and attitude

Like a projectile from a cannon, Voodoo Bloo‘s ‘MMA’ blasts out with indiscriminate intent and an ultimate sense of hedonism and thrills. It’s wild and anarchic, visceral and unhinged and…

View Post

View Post

Track: Brisbane’s Austen releases a melody-dripping slice of pure indie pop in ‘North South East West’

Brisbane artist Austen has just released a sun-infused blast of pure indie pop in the track ‘North South East West’. Slinky instrumentation and an indelible melody serve together to create…

View Post

View Post

EP Review: Prudence releases the haunting and enigmatic EP ‘Untitled’ and announces launch gig

When he isn’t providing the bottom line for DMAs, Sydney’s Tom Crandle is Prudence – a dreamy solo project that is ethereal and shimmering. We reviewed his single ‘Heart Sways’…

View Post

View Post

Album Review: The Chills deliver an emotional and shining masterpiece in ‘Scatterbrain’

Deep within the fabric of the lush material in ‘Scatterbrain’, the new album from New Zealand legends The Chills, is an indelible and poignant thread that binds the album together…

View Post

View Post

Track: The Crayon Set release the blissfully bucolic ‘Don’t Step Back Too Far’: indie pop delivered with a graceful majesty

Dublin’s The Crayon Set have just unveiled the utterly gorgeous single ‘Don’t Step Back Too Far’: a fey, wistful track that is delicate and pastoral. Intriguingly built on a bubbling,…

View Post

View Post

News: Steve Kilbey announces tour and double album ‘The Hall of Counterfeits’ with Steve Kilbey & The Winged Heels

The busiest and most creative man in the music industry is at it again. Not that long after releasing the magnificent ‘Jupiter 13’ with Martin Kennedy (see my review here),…

View Post

View Post

Track: Astrals releases the gorgeous, shimmering dream pop melodies of ‘Infinity Room’

Dreamy languorous vocals floating distantly above simple dappling guitars sum up the beautiful track from Sydney artist Astrals (Claire Simpson). The track evokes sunbeams and dreams with its delightfully fey…

View Post

View Post

News: Sydney’s legendary indie giants RATCAT announce 30 year anniversary gig

RATCAT will always have a special place in any indie band’s heart in Australia for the way they muscled their way into the general commercial charts in the early nineties…

View Post

View Post

News: The iconic Dark Mofo Festival – Come to the Cross – returns to Hobart from 16–22 June 2021. And there was much rejoicing.

We have been assiduously covering the glorious Dark Mofo Festival in the deepest south of the Southern Hemisphere almost since inception – a record blighted by the festival’s necessary cancellation…

View Post

Pages