Margaret Glaspy‘s Emotions and Math album from 2016 was one of my favourite albums of that year. Great guitars, heady melodies and fine songwriting right across it. 2020’s Devotion didn’t quite hit the spot in the same way as her debut but I’m really digging the sound of this new single ‘Act Natural‘. The song is the first single from her forthcoming LP Echo The … Continue reading MARGARET GLASPY LETS THE GUITARS CHIME ON NEW SINGLE
Sean McMahon recently released his new album Victoria, a majestic yet understated collection of intimate and poetic songs. At various times across its nine songs you’ll be reminded of the poetic sway and strum of Jeff Tweedy and Wilco, the dreamy and surreal jangly rock of David Kilgour (The Clean) and The Byrds, the loose ramble of The Grateful Dead and the melancholic croon of … Continue reading VIDEO PREMIERE: Sean McMahon – Good Morning Tomorrow
NSW artist Wade Jackson‘s voice always conjures so many wonderful reference points every time I hear it. Following his album Sensationalized, ‘The Sweetheart‘ (Broken Stone Records) is the next opening chapter of his always fascinating musical journey. Rich and evocative, the song possesses a sublime sense of restrained grandeur. Swelling synthetic strings, melodic bell-like intonations and a wide open stereoscope provide the perfect backdrop for … Continue reading WADE JACKSON CROONS A DREAMY LOVE SONG DEDICATION
Perth-based New Zealand songwriter Damien Binder has just released his fifth solo album Bright Side. It’s a widescreen indie pop-rock vista populated by sparkling guitar lines, the warm glow of synths and Binder’s astute take on the world around him. Damien first came to fame in the late 80s and through the 90s on the alternative rock scene in Auckland, NZ, as frontman for the … Continue reading Sonic Kicks: Damien Binder
Ahead of their new album All Her Friends (Friday 23 June via Poison City / Merge Records), here’s single number three for strident Naarm/Melbourne post-punk rock trio Cable Ties, who have just been announced as international tour supports for Superchunk and Amyl and the Sniffers. ‘Change’ is relentless, a churning mix of pounding drums and bass, and guitars that careen between the speakers like incessant sirens. Over the top … Continue reading CABLE TIES DIAL UP THE DECIBELS ON BRILLIANT NEW SINGLE ‘CHANGE’
No sooner did punk legends Hard-Ons announce that Tim Rogers (You Am I) was joining the band, they released the excellent LP I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken and played a heap of shows. Now 18 months later they back with their second album with Rogers in the fold. Ripper ’23 will be released on June 2nd via Cheersquad Records and today they’ve released … Continue reading HARD-ONS RELEASE BRILLIANTLY DISCONCERTING NEW VIDEO FOR ‘APARTMENT FOR TWO’
PJ Harvey is back with ‘A Child’s Question, August’, taken from the new album I Inside the Old Year Dying, out July 7th on Partisan Records. PJ Harvey’s tenth studio album I Inside the Old Year Dying marks her first release in seven years, following UK #1 album The Hope Six Demolition Project. On this album, which was recorded with long-time creative collaborators John Parish and Flood, PJ … Continue reading PJ HARVEY RELEASES NEW SINGLE AND ANNOUNCES 2023 ALBUM
To celebrate their upcoming opening slot (April 16th @ The Zoo, Meanjiin/Brisbane) on the Australian Mudhoney tour, Gravel Samwidge have released the video clip for the song ‘Long Distance Drive‘, taken from their 2021 album Complaints. The song features Matt Kennedy (Kitchen’s Floor) on guest guitar and nails a coruscating fast/slow dynamic, reminiscent of Girls Against Boys if they were a more irreverent, post-grunge noise … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Gravel Samwidge – Long Distance Drive
Like dust settling on the floor, disrupted by unruly primitive machines, the latest release from Jamie Hutchings takes shape and begins to gel and morph amid the clatter and klang of all manner of percussion. It’s never clear whether elements of a real drum kit have been sacrificed in the process of making this mostly instrumental album. A floor tom could be an empty container … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jamie Hutchings – Making Water
Over the last few months, Melbourne composer, songwriter and documentary film maker Ben deHoedt has been tantalising listeners with a selection of tracks from his forthcoming album City Lights Shimmer. ‘Divided Souls’ and ‘This Call May Be Recorded’ showed that deHoedt has created an exotic and evocative world of moody synths and melancholic guitars set in hi-res atmospheric soundscapes. A kind of neon noir with … Continue reading VIDEO PREMIERE: Ben deHoedt – Dianne’s Leaving
The Gin Palace, who include members of Crow, Glide, The Aerial Maps, Charlie Horse, Copperline, Joeys Coop, Caligula and The Finalists in their ranks, have just released the second single from their forthcoming album The Year Of The Dog. ‘Unsettled‘, written by Peter Fenton (Crow) and Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), is a dialogue with this country’s troubled past, an unflinching, poetic and honest look at a nation’s failings. An essential process required before all … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: The Gin Palace – Unsettled
Wonderful news to wake up to today, Califone have a new album called villagers in the can and set for release on May 19th via Jealous Butcher Records. On the first single ‘Habsburg Jaw‘, Tim Rutili is sounding in fine form, still weaving that fascinating mix of melodic immediacy and skewed experimental pop – a sonic junk shop of the accessible and the avant garde. … Continue reading CALIFONE ANNOUNCE NEW 2023 LP AND RELEASE FIRST SINGLE
Doubtful Sounds 