Ashnikko’s ‘Smoochies Tour’ is getting an Australian addition, with Melbourne artist Robert Baxter confirmed as special guest across the pop provocateur’s Australian and New Zealand dates next month.
The tour kicks off in Auckland on September 16 before crossing the Tasman for shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, wrapping up in Perth on September 29. Presented by MG Live and Frontier Touring, the run follows the release of Ashnikko’s second album, Smoochies, last October.
Baxter is a particularly neat fit for the bill. The Naarm-based songwriter, producer, DJ and performer works in the elastic space between pop and club music, bringing together electronic production, big hooks and lyrics that don’t leave much hiding room. Their background in dance and theatre also feeds into live shows that are built to be watched as much as heard.
Their 2024 sophomore EP STARGIRL, featuring ‘SUSPICIOUS’ and ‘CAMBOY’, pushed Baxter beyond Melbourne’s club scene, while more recent single ‘ICY (TAKE IT OFF)’ found a substantial audience online. ‘MUSIC 2 MY EARS’ and ‘KITTY CAT’ have followed as Baxter works towards another EP.
There’s already plenty of stage mileage behind them too. Baxter has appeared at Dark Mofo’s Night Mass, Ability Fest, Midsumma, Moomba, Victoria’s Pride and Brunswick Music Festival, as well as supporting G Flip, Blusher, DEVAURA and Charley. Outside music, their work has stretched into fashion, modelling and film, all of which feeds back into a pop identity that rarely seems interested in staying in one lane.
Ashnikko, meanwhile, arrives with Smoochies, the follow-up to 2023 debut album WEEDKILLER. The record pushes her maximalist pop further into club music, hip-hop and even flashes of country, with ‘Sticky Fingers’, ‘Skin Cleared’, ‘Trinkets’, ‘Itty Bitty’, ‘Smoochie Girl’ and COBRAH collaboration ‘Wet Like’ among its tracks.
Pairing Baxter with Ashnikko makes plenty of sense. Both treat pop as something to pull apart, dress up and send back out looking decidedly less conventional than when they found it. With Baxter now along for every date, the ‘Smoochies Tour’ has gained another reason to get there early.
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