Backseat Downunder
EP: Barley Passable’s new EP ‘Hindsight’ is a collection of auditory delights wrapped in gorgeous melodies
Australian duo Barley Passable‘s new EP ‘Hindsight’ is a crystal clear bubbling stream – cool electronic riffs gurgle and flow with surprising twists and turns with vocal melodies skimming across the surface weightlessly. And importantly, it is an intelligent and diverse album that is filled with a sense of disembodiment and melancholy. Of the EP’s …
Premiere: Dumb Whales unleash effervescent new single Pollen
The Dumb Whales‘ proficiency in producing epic melodic indie standards continues unabated with their new track ‘Pollen’, which we are very pleased to premiere today in advance of its release on Thursday. With instantly memorable sky-high choruses, this is a bouncy, effervescent tune that is filled with antipodean sunshine and optimism and a tongue firmly …
Track: Dominic Breen’s honey-gold vocals adorn the beautiful, shimmering track ‘James Street Tonight’
‘James Street Tonight’ by Sydney musician Dominic Breen is an absolutely exquisite delight, draped in chiming guitars and melancholia and lifted skywards by Breen’s gorgeous vocals. This immediately takes its place amongst the great Australian tradition of poetic troubadours stretching back to The Go-Betweens and The Apartments – cloaking lyrical beauty in shimmering melodies. There …
Album Review: Jessica’s ‘The Space Between’ is an immersive masterpiece of haunting dream pop
Backseat Mafia had the pleasure of premiering the track ‘Silence’ from Sydney artist Jessica last week which lead inexorably to listening to the source album ‘The Space Between’. And what a completely immersive and enthralling journey this album is. ‘The Space Between’ as a whole is impossibly beautiful – quiet, reflecting vignettes filled with a …
News: New Zealand’s Merk announces new album and releases gorgeous, yearning single Laps Around the Sun
Merk’s new single ‘Laps Around the Sun’ is a gorgeous reflective piece, infused with a sense of yearning and constructed around a deceptively simple synth-based framework. Merk is the work of Auckland, New Zealand artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mark Perkins who began his career as a touring member of Tom Lark and Fazerdaze. In this …
Album Review: Flyying Colours’ new album ‘Fantasy Country’ is a smashing and cathartic dose of shoegaze sparkle
The anthemic and statuesque ‘Goodtimes’ kicks opens the doors of the new and blistering album ‘Fantasy Country’ by Melbourne band Flyying Colours. And what you get at the beginning is what you can expect through to the end of this extremely enjoyable and highly rewarding album. In ‘Goodtimes’ there is an amusing tension between the …
See: Heligoland release an arctic chill with gorgeous new video for ‘Hera’ off album ‘This Quiet Fire’
The track ‘Hera’ perfectly encapsulates the overall shimmering beauty of Heligoland‘s album ‘This Quiet Fire’ (reviewed by me recently), and the band has released an enchanting video that is the perfect cinematic vision for the track. The black and white landscapes loom ominously – the snow-laden, naked boughs and walls of frosted trees frame the …
Premiere: Local Authority, Brisbane’s shoegaze/dream pop trio, release evocative and psychedelic video for the blistering single ‘Forever, For Now’
Backseat Mafia is very pleased to premiere the video for the new single by Brisbane’s dream pop/shoegaze specialists, Local Authority. I have championed this band for a while on these pages – I reviewed their last album ‘Negative Space’ and described it as a truly a magnificent album that carves out a unique space for …
News: Peter Hook and the Light Downunder – 2022 Australian/New Zealand Tour is announced
Peter Hook & The Light return to Australia and New Zealand in 2022 to perform Joy Division’s landmark albums, ‘Unknown Pleasures’ and ‘Closer’, in full and sequential order. Plus as a special bonus they will perform an opening set of New Order material. Joy Division co-founder and bassist was part of the band for the …
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 …