See: The Psychedelic Furs release video for ‘Wrong Train’ – a gorgeous cinematic black and white slice of dystopia, plus announce tour news
Last year the venerable The Psychedelic Furs returned with ‘Made of Rain’ – making it on Backseat Mafia’s list of top fifty albums of 2020 and in my view one of their best albums. In my 9/10 review I wrote it was a contemporary album for the modern times and while it has all the …
Track: Thailand’s My Life As Ali Thomas release anthemic indie thumper ‘Rinn’
Thai band My Life As Ali Thomas have just released an epic track ‘Rinn’ which has a thumping, abrasive attack that recalls bands like Garbage or more recently New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous . Scything guitars set up a relentless drive and singer Pie’s dynamic vocals are resounding. The track isn’t about anything in …
Track: Dominic Breen’s honey-gold vocals adorn the beautiful, shimmering track ‘James Street Tonight’
‘James Street Tonight’ by Sydney musician Dominic Breen is an absolutely exquisite delight, draped in chiming guitars and melancholia and lifted skywards by Breen’s gorgeous vocals. This immediately takes its place amongst the great Australian tradition of poetic troubadours stretching back to The Go-Betweens and The Apartments – cloaking lyrical beauty in shimmering melodies. There …
Album Review: Jessica’s ‘The Space Between’ is an immersive masterpiece of haunting dream pop
Backseat Mafia had the pleasure of premiering the track ‘Silence’ from Sydney artist Jessica last week which lead inexorably to listening to the source album ‘The Space Between’. And what a completely immersive and enthralling journey this album is. ‘The Space Between’ as a whole is impossibly beautiful – quiet, reflecting vignettes filled with a …
News: New Zealand’s Merk announces new album and releases gorgeous, yearning single Laps Around the Sun
Merk’s new single ‘Laps Around the Sun’ is a gorgeous reflective piece, infused with a sense of yearning and constructed around a deceptively simple synth-based framework. Merk is the work of Auckland, New Zealand artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mark Perkins who began his career as a touring member of Tom Lark and Fazerdaze. In this …
Track: By George unveil the effervescent and infectious single ‘Relax’
By George hail from North Carolina and their new single ‘Relax’ is a delightfully effervescent track – a melody with more hooks than a fishing competition, layered harmonies and buzz-saw guitars. There is a low-fi restrained chaos but with an ultimately a joyful pace as guitar riffs sparkle and shimmer over a Hammond organ sound …
Track: An Early Bird unveils the hauntingly beautiful single Fishes in the Ocean
Stefano Di Stefano is Italian outfit An Early Bird – and an artist Backseat Mafia has been following closely ever since we sprang into production way back in 2013. Stefano came into our view with a band called Pipers before setting off on a very successful solo career. Stefano is the archetypal romantic troubadour of …
News: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis release new album called ‘CARNAGE’
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (collaborator in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and in Dirty Three) have surprised everyone by the sudden release of an album entitled ‘Carnage’. The album is available to be streamed immediately from here and with physical copies in the shops from 28 May 2021 wich can be pre-ordered here. …
Album Review: Flyying Colours’ new album ‘Fantasy Country’ is a smashing and cathartic dose of shoegaze sparkle
The anthemic and statuesque ‘Goodtimes’ kicks opens the doors of the new and blistering album ‘Fantasy Country’ by Melbourne band Flyying Colours. And what you get at the beginning is what you can expect through to the end of this extremely enjoyable and highly rewarding album. In ‘Goodtimes’ there is an amusing tension between the …
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 …