Backseat Downunder
Premiere: Damien Binder follows up his indie anthem ‘Here It Is’ with a brilliant and evocative video
Damien Binder‘s anthemic track ‘Here It is’ was recently premiered by Backseat Mafia – in my review I wrote it was an extremely satisfying indie rock track with a hint of swagger and a dash of melancholic yearning. And I naturally wholeheartedly endorse those views. Binder has followed this up with a really clever and …
News: Crowded House announces new album ‘Dreamers are Waiting’ and release exciting new track.
In very exciting news, New Zealand legends Crowded House have made a surprise announcement of a new album called ‘Dreamers are Waiting’. This is their first studio album in more than a decade. This follows the release of the single ‘To The Island’ with its gorgeously shot video infected with the typical humorous style associated …
Track: The Bamboos effortlessly reinvent ‘Ride on Time’ with an organic, funky analogue style
I remember feeling deeply uncomfortable in the late eighties when I first heard Black Box’s ‘Ride on Time’. There I was, covered in black and an attitude, wearing Docs and a heavy disdain for anything vaguely resembling commercial radio friendly music when I heard this song. I couldn’t help but fall in love with this …
Album Review: Kilbey/Kennedy release the spectacular album Jupiter 13 – a sci-fi journey cloaked in a psychedelic indie shimmer.
If there was any doubt about the ability of The Church’s Steve Kilbey to eat, sleep and dream brilliant music without limit, this new album with long time collaborator Martin Kennedy is proof. Kilbey is without doubt the hardest working musician in the business – but extraordinarily there is absolutely no dilution of quality. One …
Meet: We put dream pop maestros Heligoland under the microscope and review their shimmering new album This Quiet Fire
Heligoland began life in Melbourne before adventurously packing up and moving to Paris, where they have produced a series of stunning albums and EPs with the production skills of Cocteau Twins luminary Robyn Guthrie adding a certain lustre. Their new album, ‘This Quiet Fire’, has all the hallmarks of classic dream pop music that bears …
Album review: MOAT’s new album Poison Stream is a glorious collection of hybrid indie/folk vignettes that shimmer and shine.
MOAT is a fascinating collaboration between Marty Willson-Piper, founding and former member of iconic Australian band The Church and member of goth band All About Eve, and composer and multi-instrumentalist Niko Röhlcke (Weeping Willows). The former comes from an English/Australian jangling guitar pop background, the latter a composer and Swedish indie band member, and they meet somewhere …
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 …