Album Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain reveal their stunning ‘Glasgow Eyes’ – an intoxicating mix of swagger and attitude with just a hint of reflection.

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EP: The delicately beautiful ‘Creatures of Habit’ from Brisbane artist Aren’t is an exquisite triumph. Plus news of launch date.

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Premiere: Versari exclusively unveil for us their new EP Brûle: an epic filled with glorious edits and remixes casting a whole new light on the originals

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As ubiquitous as their namesake – an agricultural feature of suburban Australian cities separating private property from the road – The Nature Strip have assembled again to release another slice of dynamic, jangling pop filled to the brim with verve, melody and a sparkle as bright and illuminating as the afternoon sun. The lyrics, according …

Hillsborough – named after the area in Western Queensland where singer/songwriter Phil Usher’s family have been living since the late 1800’s – have a sound that sweeps across an alt. country landscape fringed with a gothic shade and just a touch – tastefully applied – of a rambling bluesy blush. The band consist of Usher …

‘King of Joy’ is a delightful low-fi dreamy track – clocking at a brief one minute thirty seconds that leaves you yearning for more. It has the gently, fey delivery that brings to mind that distinctive Dunedin sound – gentle, melancholic pop. Aotearoa/New Zealand artist Pickle Darling (the nome de plume of Lukas Mayo) has …

Anth Dymke (Pony Face) helped produce and create the wonderful works of Jo Meares, whose music has featured often here at Backseat Mafia and always frequents our end of year lists of favourite sounds emanating from the southern regions. Dymke has now released a track of his own featuring the debut of singer Clara Mallia …

Both Martin Kennedy and Gareth Koch have created some stunning collaborations separately with The Church’s Steve Kilbey in the past years, and it is not surprising that the two Hobart residents have leaned over the garden fence in the southern capital with a cup of sugar and some music files to work together. The result …

Following up on their debut single ‘Pretty Boy‘, Sydney grunge pop exponents GRXCE have just released ‘Family Traditions’ which proves their adroitness at creating indelible muscular pop grunge of the highest order. ‘Family Tradition does ease off on the accelerator slightly, bit it is nonetheless a powerfully crafted pop missile. The track has a serious …

The Church – a veritable and venerated music institution – are about to release their new and much anticipated album ‘The Hypnogogue’. The band celebrated its 40 years as an entity in 2020. I caught up with singer, songwriter, bass player and spiritual leader Steve Kilbey on the eve of the album’s release and on …

The rather brilliant dream pop maestros Summer Flake are fluttering their collective eyelashes at us on the eve of the release of their new album ‘One Less Thing’, with a double blast of goodness in the form of singles ‘Barnacle Bill’ and ‘Ordinary’. ‘Barnacle Bill’, accompanied by a simple performance video (interspersed by the odd …

Huck Hastings is a frequently reviewed and beloved artist here at Backseat Mafia both through his solo work, collaborations with other artists (see his gorgeous collaboration with Charlie Gradon last year) and as part of the trio Hollow States along with Joel & Hayden Woolf. The reason? His is an eloquent and velvet voice that …

Naarm/Melbourne producer Arty Ziff (nom de plume of Mitch Kelly) has teamed up with Brisbane musician/producer Lemonade Baby to produce a snaky ambient piece of electronica entitled ‘Rockstar’: a slightly tongue-in-cheek proclamation delivered over smooth bubbling syncopated rhythms and vocoder-touched smooth-as-velvet vocals. As with his last released ‘Byebyebaby’ featured by us late last year, Arty …