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Backseat Downunder

New releases from Australia and New Zealand

News: GANGgajang set to headline Nimbin Roots Festival in October 2024

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Premiere: Naarm/Melbourne Twin Sisters, Idol Minds, Enchant with ‘Needed You’ – A Mystical Odyssey Through the Intricacies of Love

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Live Gallery: Warpaint at the Oxford Art Factory 23.10.2023

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Sydney supergroup The Finalists have just released their debut album ‘First’ and it is a delight. Nine tracks that feature the most jangling and sparkling of guitars – six strings, twelve strings, acoustic and electric – that form a superb bedrock for a collection of deeply personal songs that are heartfelt and passionate, raw and …

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We are honoured to premiere the new single ‘The Great Divide’ from Melbourne-based indie band Dumb Whales. It’s an absolute thumping track: chiming, razor-sharp guitars carve their way over a steady and thunderous rhythm section featuring a rousing anthemic chorus and fulsome melodies. This is classic indie rock fashioned from sparkling guitars and celestial melodies. …

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There is an ambient fuzz and, antithetically, a gorgeous delicacy to the new single ‘Irrational’ by Sydney band Erthlings. This is a dreamy and heavenly track that is imbued with an achingly melancholic shimmer. The single has an eighties day-glo brilliance with an instrumentation that reflects some kind of weird mix between M83 and Dinosaur …

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Sydney band The Nagging Doubts are developing quite a reputation fresh out of high school – they have worked with Nic Dalton from the iconic Half a Cow Records and have now collaborated with the legendary producer Wayne Connolly (Underground Lovers, The Vines, You Am I, Youth Group) on their forthcoming EP entitled ‘Autocalm’. As …

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I’m in complete awe of those people who have managed to use the period of COVID isolation to up their game in terms of creativity and output, and Eilish Gilligan, emerging from Melbourne’s serious second wave of lockdowns is a case in point. Not only has she been putting together fascinating Twitch events on a …

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There’s nothing like a good dose of aural medicine to stimulate the system and the new single from Melbourne band Badgers does that and more. ‘Why Am I You Only Friend?’ is a veritable onslaught of jangling guitars, delicious layered harmonies with an epic swagger and joie de vivre bigger than the temporal world. Plowing …

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Shiva and the Hazards garnered a lot of attention following their support slot with Ride across Australia recently – performances that were good enough to result in their new single ‘Revolution Son’ being produced and mixed by Ride front man Mark Gardener. It’s clear to see what the fuss is about – both live and …

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It is with great delight we premiere the amazing new video for artist Jo Meares‘s spectacular new single ‘Reasons’. There is such a haunting quality to both the song and the perfectly matched video that seems to capture the cyclical nature of life – natural processes that are disturbing, intimidating yet so breathtakingly beautiful. Meares …

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The tracks on Lisa Caruso‘s new album ‘In Feelings’ provide a gloriously impassioned tableaux for emotion and pain: honestly expressed and rendered with a theatrical flourish and a hint of troubled glamour. Caruso recorded parts of the album back in 2018 in London with producer Ben Fletcher (Sarah Blasko and Marina and the Diamonds) before …

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Brisbane’s The Double Happiness are premiering their delicious new single ‘Oysters Can Dream’ on Backseat Mafia today, and it is another fine example of the reverb-soaked dreamy soundscapes this band are so excellent at delivering. Twanging, jangling guitars and vocal harmonies evoke sea spray splashes on bright sunny waterfronts and the briny delights of open …

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