backseat downunder
Track: Melbourne’s Snowy Band release the gorgeously atmospheric track ‘Whatever You Want’ and announce new album ‘Alternative Endings’
The quiet, reflective and reverberated voice of Liam “Snowy” Halliwell glides over the gentle guitars in Snowy Band‘s beautiful new single ‘Whatever You Want’. There is a luminescent glow to the track: burnished by the glorious backing vocals and the guitar lines that follow the melody like a glove. There a yearning dream pop reverie …
Premiere: Anatomy Class put up a ‘Reflector Shield’ – a powerful, jangling force of sparkling positivity in one track
We are very honoured to premiere ‘Reflector Shield’ – a classical indie pop anthem replete with undulating waves of sparkling guitars, a thundering percussion and passionate vocals burnished with some gorgeous harmonies. The responsible culprits, Anatomy Class, have been here before, of course – read my review of their earlier single ‘Welcome to the Ages’ …
Premiere: Magnetic Heads release the glorious, shimmering single ‘What You See Is What You Get’ off their forthcoming album ‘Moral Outage’
We are very honoured to premiere the new single ‘What You See Is What You Get’ from Sydney’s brilliant Magnetic Heads: a gloriously rich synth-injected eighties-influenced motorik blast. Singer/songwriter Des Miller has the velvet rich, deep and resonant vocals of Ian Curtis, David Bowie or Iggy Pop, and the band has the syncopated rhythms and …
Track: Gold Coast’s dream pop exponents syrup go on engulf us in a dreamy reverie with the sparkling ‘Lavender Sky’
It’s been nearly two years since we reviewed the delightful album ‘Last Light’ from Brisbane’s dream pop giants syrup go on. They have returned after a year of songwriting, development and, I presume, avoiding the maelstrom of COVID with a new single: the luminescent and sparkling track ‘Lavender Sky’. Evoking images of pastoral, bucolic countrysides …
Album Review: The Goon Sax illuminate the firmament with spectacular album ‘Mirror II’
The Goon Sax have released their third album ‘Mirror II’ and it confirms their special place amongst Australian indie royalty. The album is essentially one of two parts – there is a softer pop element to the tracks released as singles with their glittery sheen and there is a more angular side that is brittle …
Track: The enigmatic Johnny Hunter unveils the dark and sizzling new track ‘The Floor’
Johnny Hunter released one of the most enthralling and fascinating albums of last year with their debut EP ‘Early Trauma’ (see my review here). Theatrical, gothic, effervescent and with just a hint of malevolence, this is a band that slaps on some makeup and puts on a show – visual and aural pummeling that is …
Track: Courtney Barnett takes a gentle, wry look at ‘Rae Street’ and announces third studio album, ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’
Australian indie icon Courtney Barnett has just announced the release of her third studio album ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ on 12 November 2021 through Marathon Artists and released the first single, ‘Rae Street’. ‘Rae Street’ is a gentle, reflective track with Barnett’s signature wry observations on the vicissitudes of life: immediate real and acute …
Track: Interstellar Tay expresses yearning and loss with the sparkling, effervescent ‘Garden Song’
‘Garden Song’ sets off with such a sparkling and effervescent style with its folk timbre and pop sensibilities that its inspiration – the passing of the fantastically named Interstellar Tay‘s grandfather – is hard to detect. The song is a celebration of a lost loved one: joyous and positive with its sing along choruses and …
Track: New Zealand’s Sulfate release the dark, fuzzy track ‘Crossing’ and announce new album ‘Godzone’ through Flying Nun Records
‘Crossing’, from New Zealand band Sulfate, is a delicious, fuzzy, angst-ridden piece of darkness that buzzes with a satisfying intensity. A metallic syncopated undercurrent is swamped by angular, crunchy guitars and yearning vocals that have echoes of the brittle, observational delivery of the Robert Forster side of The Go-Betweens. The themes match the gothic darkness …
Track: Sydney artist LOVER releases the spacey, dreamy and slightly surreal ‘Palm Reader’
There are layers of lush instrumentation and a dreamy intergalactic aura to the new single from Sydney artist LOVER (the nome de plume of Oliver Kirby. The slightly surreal atmosphere – a dreamy, melodic fugue – is matched by the arresting visuals of the accompanying video. What LOVER does is infect an electronic wash with …