See: Heligoland release an arctic chill with gorgeous new video for ‘Hera’ off album ‘This Quiet Fire’
The track ‘Hera’ perfectly encapsulates the overall shimmering beauty of Heligoland‘s album ‘This Quiet Fire’ (reviewed by me recently), and the band has released an enchanting video that is the perfect cinematic vision for the track. The black and white landscapes loom ominously – the snow-laden, naked boughs and walls of frosted trees frame the …
Premiere: Local Authority, Brisbane’s shoegaze/dream pop trio, release evocative and psychedelic video for the blistering single ‘Forever, For Now’
Backseat Mafia is very pleased to premiere the video for the new single by Brisbane’s dream pop/shoegaze specialists, Local Authority. I have championed this band for a while on these pages – I reviewed their last album ‘Negative Space’ and described it as a truly a magnificent album that carves out a unique space for …
News: Wolf Alice announce new album ‘Blue Weekend’ and unveil epic, anthemic single ‘The Last Man on Earth’
Legendary indie band Wolf Alice have announced their return with news of a new album entitled ‘Blue Weekend’ scheduled for release on 11 June via Liberator Music / Dirty Hit. To mark this great news, the band has also released a video for a new single off the album – ‘The Last Man on Earth’. …
News: Peter Hook and the Light Downunder – 2022 Australian/New Zealand Tour is announced
Peter Hook & The Light return to Australia and New Zealand in 2022 to perform Joy Division’s landmark albums, ‘Unknown Pleasures’ and ‘Closer’, in full and sequential order. Plus as a special bonus they will perform an opening set of New Order material. Joy Division co-founder and bassist was part of the band for the …
Album Review: The Bats’ Robert Scott and Dallas Henley release low-fi home recorded delight ‘Level 4’
As the main songwriter for the wonderful The Bats, Robert Scott needs no introduction (read my recent interview with him). Scott has partnered with Dallas Henley, Scott’s co-owner of an Art Gallery – Pea Sea Art – in Port Chalmers Dunedin, to release a very low-fi and extremely intimate collection of absolutely gorgeous songs. Both …
Premiere: We Set Sail launches the thundering single ‘The Valium Phase’ ahead of album release
We are very pleased to premiere the opening track to Brisbane band We Set Sail‘s forthcoming third album ‘Ritual and Ceremony’. And it’s a blinder. ‘The Valium Phase’ is an explosive, passionate blast to the ears – stabbing guitars and pounding rhythms with vocals that bleed emotion and wrench the heart. This track has a …
Premiere: Jessica releases the ethereal and ghostly single ‘Silence’
We are very pleased to premiere the video for Sydney musician Jessica‘s new track ‘Silence’ on Backseat Mafia. Jessica’s voice is as majestic and ethereal as Kate Bush’s and ‘Silence’ is a brief but so very haunting and evocative song. Deep strings underpin the gorgeous floating vocals and create a hypnotic drone. There is a …
Track: Little Suspicions deliver a breath of fresh air with the assured single ‘Lime’
There is a cool and assured swagger to ‘Lime’, the new track by Little Suspicions, that gives it a bright and fresh vigour. The attendant element of theatricality – crooning vocals, a kind of sixties gloss to the thundering reverb-soaked guitars, sweeping strings and doo-wop backing vocals – gives this track an indelible sheen. Of …
Album Review: Roof Beams’ ‘This Life Must Be Long’ is a raw and graceful journey
Roof Beams have recorded an album ‘This Life Must Be Long’ filled with the most beautiful and expressive tracks. The instrumentation is delicate, the vocals raw and emotive, clever intelligent lyrics and themes and the production unfussy and raw. The band is showcases the songwriting skills of Nathan Robinson who writes of the travails of …
Album review: A. Smyth unveils the imposing and beautiful album ‘Last Animals’
‘Lost Animals’ by Irish artist A. Smyth has an intriguing mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation that creates a delicate fusion between a folk songwriting tradition and more rugged indie rock roots. The golden thread throughout, though, is an ear for the sweetest of melodies and an indelible melancholia that permeates every track. The result …