Backseat Downunder
Track: Pop jangle maestros Even release the anthemic gem ‘Cherry Afterglow’
The sun shines brighter, even in Australia, when Melbourne masters of jangling pop Even return to the fray. Their new single ‘Cherry Afterglow’ is classic indie pop: massive choruses, driving verses and the scything, ringing guitars. Hints of psychedelia, a dreamy interlude and an approach not afraid of delivering indelible melodies with an anthemic drive. …
Live Review: 4000 Records Turns 2! Music Festival delivers a stupendous celebration – Brightside Brisbane Bar, 26 September 2021.
4000 Records in Brisbane might only two years old but it has already developed an impressive and formidable roster in that short time. To celebrate a challenging couple of years since its inception, Chief Musical Officer John Russell organised a day long showcase for his bands – an incredible audacious feat battling COVID restrictions, a …
Album Review: Sydney’s Fabels weaves a shimmering and exotic cloak of many colours in their brilliant and evocative new album ‘Minds’.
Deep in the heart of ‘Minds’, the new album from Sydney duo Fabels, is an exotic mysticism and ethereal glow, emanating from the mysterious vocals and the layered sonic landscapes. The result is something that is quite splendid: an electronic classicism that is borderless and transcendent. Fabels are Hiske Weijers, Ben Aylward (plus live, guest …
Premiere: Bryan Estepa’s melodic pop sensibilities shine in his new EP ‘Back to the Middle’ – have an exclusive listen here.
We are honoured to give you an early listen to Sydney musician Bryan Estepa‘s new EP ‘Back to the Middle’. Estepa is a master of the finely crafted pop song: indelible melodies, jangling guitars, glorious harmonies and a shimmering sense of optimism and joy. ‘Back to the Middle’ perfectly captures this: it is a sunshine-infused …
Track: Fleeting Persuasion unveil the atmospheric and brooding track ‘Eternal’.
‘Eternal’, the new single from Melbourne’s Fleeting Persuasion, prowls and circles with a delicious brooding intensity and dark gothic undertones. There is a euphoric mix of a new wave arctic chill with the jangling angular guitars and something more electronic and syncopated. A subtle touch of backing vocals adds a delicate shaft of light. It …
Album Review: Ben Salter’s ‘twenty-one words for loss’ is a stark and elegant paean to transience and loss: as beautiful and raw as the land it was created in.
Hobart/nippaluna resident Ben Salter today releases his epic treatise on the topic of grief, loss and the vicissitudes of aging, ‘twenty-one words for loss’. The entire album was conceived, written and recorded over two days in April earlier this year at Hobart’s landmark Museum of New and Modern Art (MONA) during Salter’s six month residency/installation. …
Album Review: Nik Brinkman’s debut ‘Secret Stairs’ is an elegant showcase of glittering dreamy dream pop exhibits.
Opening with an instrumental with a spoken dialogue in the track ‘Silent Cities’, the crystalline beauty of New Zealander Nik Brinkman‘s new album ‘Secret Stairs’ become instantly evident. With the shimmering elegance of M83, ‘Silent Cities’ is evocative: bringing to life those late night long distance calls that are filled with yearning and isolation across …
Premiere: Brisbane artist Aren’t unveils debut single, the transfixing ‘The Black from the Dark ft McKisko’ and announces debut EP.
Brisbane band Requin burned brightly but tragically briefly, leaving behind an impressive body of work (see our review of the single ‘Rules That Won’t Be Broken’ last year). All is not lost however – Fionn Richards from the band has formed the project Aren’t, and we are honoured to provide an exclusive listen to the …
Track: Sydney’s glorious Johnny Hunter is back for more with an evocative and shimmering slice of ‘Life’
One of the most exciting and dynamic bands in the antipodean region, in my humble opinion, Johnny Hunter, is back with another exciting release ‘Life’. This follows the July release of ‘The Floor’ (reviewed by me here) and last year’s EP ‘Early Trauma’ (reviewed here). ‘Life’ is infused with the same vitality and theatricality we …
Premiere: Melbourne’s Skybelly unveils the chapter of an exotic space adventure in the dreamy track ‘Sapphire’, ahead of debut album.
The vivid, sparkling and unbound imagination of Sara Nelson, working under the name Skybelly, creates a whole new universe in her forthcoming album ‘A Space Tramp Odyssey’, due out on 23 September 2021. As a taste of what’s to come, we are honoured to premiere the track ‘Sapphire’ which is due out on 17 September …