Posts in tag

New Romantic


A year on from her brilliant book the 80s, Sound And Vision, Sheila Rock is back with another. This time diving deeper into the decade, looking at the new romantic scene. Subtitled from Billy’s to the People’s Palace, it is a limited edition of just 800 copies. The punk scene which came before it, should …

The rich and luscious sounds on Sophie Mahon‘s ‘Bogart’s Eyes’, premiered here in Backseat Mafia today, transports one to the eighties: there is a palpable new romantic shimmer and an incandescent glow. You cannot help but think of it being a counterpart to ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ by Kim Carnes, with dollops of a Bryan Ferry/Roxy …

Backseat Mafia was blown away by a performance by Hobart’s Renaissance man Costume (the moniker of Adam Ouston) at last year’s Dark Mofo Festival. Dramatic, postured, confident and highly entertaining, Costume perfectly captures an eighties zeitgeist for the contemporary era with a Bowiesque meets Dead or Alive buzz. One the eve of an Australian tour, …

Like some new romantic looking for the tv sound, Adam Ouston (under the nom de plume Costume) could have been straight out of London’s infamous Blitz Club in the eighties. Architecturally impossible hair, layered makeup, glittering outfits, strobing lights and angular backing dancers in a mist of dry ice – all the ingredients were there. …