Sydney
Track: Barley Passable bottle the essence of a Sydney summer with new single Turnaround
Sydney duo, Barley Passable, have released a veritable slice of summer with their new slinky, sensuous single ‘Turnaround’. It is as if they have bottled the essence of Sydney’s northern beaches – the bleach white beaches, the cloudless blue skies and the driving searing heat, hooning around in panel vans and board shorts eating Chiko …
See: Bryan Estepa releases poignant and dreamy video for single Trick of the Light
I was highly impressed by Bryan Estepa‘s recent single ‘Trick of the Light’ – a track that blossoms with every listen – and he has followed this up with a very visually arresting and poignant video. The video, directed by Nicholas Banicevic, perfectly captures the dreamy nostalgic elements of the track with hazy colours and …
Track: The Electorate release the single ‘Skeleton’ from their impressive debut album ‘You Don’t Have Time to Stay Lost’
‘You Don’t Have Time to Stay Lost’ is the outstanding debut album from Sydney outfit The Electorate – appearing in my list of favourite antipodean albums for 2020. I described the album as perfectly capturing the ennui of modern middle-aged life and wrapping it into beautiful melodies and wistful observations that manage to express the …
Track: Bryan Estepa: Trick of the Light
Sydney musician Bryan Estepa has impressive song-writing style that is certainly Beatlesesque in delivery, while maintaining his own distinctive delivery and style. His new single ‘Trick of the Light’ showcases his smooth vocals with an extraordinary range as well as the lush and sparkling instrumentation. ‘Trick of the Light’ is infused with a deep melancholia …
Meet: We interview Nic Dalton, owner of Sydney’s legendary Half a Cow Records
As a reviewer, from time to time you come across small boutique labels whose enthusiasm and dedication to the music scene is utterly magnificent and completely inspiring. Over the past few years, I’ve reviewed a number of brilliant bands with one common denominator – they were all on the Half a Cow Record label. This …
Say Psych: Track: PEEL – Memory Loop
PEEL hail from Sydney and make inter-dimensional guitar music; they create sonic architecture built from elements of shoegaze, post-punk and psychedelia and have come out of the gates with all engines firing. ‘Memory Loop’ is their first single and offers a raw and potent four minutes of hypnotic, fuzzed-out pop. The keen eye may recognise PEEL members from Third …
Premiere: Warmer releases whimsical animated video for ‘Fishes Swim and Coral Grow’
Back in May I reviewed the gorgeous album ‘Wooden Box with Strings’ from Sydney’s Warmer – the solo project of the enigmatic John Encarnacao from The Nature Strip. This is an album that simply continues to grow in stature. Following the release of a single from this album, we are very pleased to premiere the …
Track: Mansionair x NoMBe collaborate to release the cathartic dance anthem ‘Guillotine’
Sydney trio Mansionair have teamed up with Germany’s NoMBe to create the perfect riposte to the horrors of 2020 with the new single ‘Guillotine’. Rather than providing a panacea for the pain, ‘Guillotine’ perfectly captures and shines back the sense of claustrophobia and unsettling nature of the year with its languid speaking verses and the …
Album Review: The Finalists release their warm and enveloping debut album First
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 …
Track: Sydney band Erthlings release the sublime, dreamy, fuzzy single Irrational
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 …