Backseat Downunder
Track: T. G. Shand’s new single ‘The Ease’ is a glorious, woozy, shoegaze delight
‘The Ease’, the new single from T.G. Shand, is an immersive and dreamy soundscape with a shoegaze sheen and a dream pop glimmer. It is absolutely fantastic. T.G. Shand is actually the solo work of Ōtautahi/Christchurch resident Annemarie Duff, formerly of the legendary Melbourne shoegaze band Miniatures (on the iconic Saint Marie Records label). This …
Track: Pete Murray releases anthemic burner ‘If We Never Dance Again’ and announces new EP.
Pete Murray has built an admirable reputation in Australia for his powerful balladry and anthemic pop songs. His new single ‘If We never Dance Again’ maintains the strength of his songwriting and production: a cinematic sweep with drama and emotion and an entire desert’s worth of yearning. Murray says of the song, written in collaboration …
Track: Aussie indie stalwarts Children Collide return with the psychedelic track Trampoline and announce tour and album
Melbourne’s Children Collide are a solid piece of the furniture in the house of indie rock in Australia, producing some of the most enjoyable indie rock/pop over the last ten or so years. They have just announced the welcome news of a new album, the return to the live circuit and the release of a …
Premiere: Blackbirds FC release the gorgeously shimmering single ‘Island of the Dogs’ and announce new album
With a sparkling jangle and a deeply satisfying crunchy rhythm, the new single ‘Island of the Dogs’ by Melbourne band Blackbirds FC is immense and cinematic, and we are proud to premiere this on Backseat Mafia. There is an unmistakable antipodean blood flowing through the veins of this song – drawing in the wide sweeping …
Track: KAI CULT lights a fuse with ‘Cigarette Burns’
With a frenetic pace tilting along at full speed, Melbourne artist KAI CULT‘s new single ‘Cigarette Burns’ is energetic, unhinged and absolutely satisfying. Like a masked antagonist careering through the night with a chainsaw, the music slashes and burns under the band’s disturbed, yelping, laconic vocals. It’s controlled chaos, utterly cathartic with a genetic connection …
Track: MOAT – a collaboration between Marty Willson-Piper (ex The Church) and Niko Röhlcke – releases the brilliant single ‘Helpless You’.
Marty Willson-Piper was a founding member of the legendary Australian band The Church – an iconic and much loved figure with his rock star image, hooped earrings, paisley shirts and Rickenbackers. His was an integral part of the sixties jingle jangle guitar sound that heavily influenced an international movement with bands such as REM. While …
EP Review: New Zealand’s Bitter Defeat launch a veritable rocket with their brilliant EP ‘Minor Victory’
Blasting out with ‘Light That Shines’ is a an appropriate taster of what’s to come from Bitter Defeat‘s new EP ‘Minor Victory’. Lauded by me last year, this is a hyperactive and anarchic track of joy: a new wave pogo-inducing rocket-fueled delight. And what I love about this band is its lack of pretension, a …
EP Review: Nick Ward’s deeply personal treatise on identity in ‘Everything I Wish I Told You’ is beautiful, empowering pop.
Sydney’s Nick Ward is only nineteen but the maturity and stature of his new EP, ‘Everything I Wish I Told You’ is phenomenal. In instrumentation, vocals and lyrical themes, this is a fully formed piece of indie pop that sparkles with melody and rhythms. The themes are very personal and born from the strictures of …
Premiere: Damien Binder’s new single ‘Here It Is’ is a shining beacon of soul-stirring, anthemic indie pop.
We are honoured to premiere the new single ‘Here It Is’ from New Zealand-born Western Australian resident Damien Binder which is out on Friday, 5 February 2021. Binder began his musical life in nineties NZ band Second Child before moving west to Australia – Perth to be precise – and releasing, to date, four solo …
Track: Brisbane’s highly talented musician RINSE unleashes dream pop perfection in track ‘Tamarynd (Wherever I am)’
RINSE is the solo work of Joe Agius, a central and compelling figure in the hyperactive and vibrant Brisbane musical scene. A collaborator with Hatchie (a firm Backseat Mafia favourite), Agius has just released the magnificent single ‘Tamarynd (Wherever I am)’ from his forthcoming debut EP, ‘Wherever I Am’ out 5 March 2021. In a …