backseat downunder
News: New Zealand’s Womb announce EP ‘Holding a Flame’, out through Flying Nun Records, and tour dates
Shoegaze/dream pop exponents extraordinaire, Womb, from Pōneke (Wellington) have just announced the release of a new EP – ‘Holding a Flame’ – on 23 June 2021 through the inestimable and legendary Flying Nun Records. What a powerful combination. To launch this event, Womb will be embarking on a Aotearoa/New Zealand-wide tour. ‘Holding a Flame’ is a …
Album Review: Steve Kilbey & the Winged Heels soar into another celestial sphere with double album ‘The Hall of Counterfeits’, plus tour news
It is difficult to comprehend that in the space of a little over twelve months, Steve Kilbey has released three monumental albums under various guises (read my reviews of ‘Chryse Planitia‘ with Gareth Koch, ‘Jupiter 13‘ with Martin Kennedy, ‘Eleven Women‘ as a solo effort). And now Kilbey gifts us the monumental double album ‘The …
Premiere: New Zealand’s Nik Brinkman produces a languid and dreamy ‘Candy’, infused with a psychedelic haze
New Zealand artist Nik Brinkman has the languorous, snarling indifferent vocals of The Jesus and Mary Chain mixed with a dreamy, multicoloured haze that, in his new track ‘Candy’ that we are very honoured to premiere today on Backseat Mafia, creates an absolutely delicious piece of punky psychedelia. Hazy reverb and flange soaked instrumentation waltzes …
See: The enigmatic Second Idol unveils gritty video for the thumping single ‘Out of Time’
Second Idol‘s powerful EP ‘Defence Mechanism’, reviewed by me here, is a refreshing blast of indie rock, and the band has just released a video for the brilliant track ‘Out of Time’. It’s a simple performance piece that reinforces the fact that this is a band with an enormous presence and enigmatic style. Cool, louche …
Track: Make a montage release the evocative dreamy instrumental ‘Horizon Blur’.
There is an indelible feeling of euphoria emanating from the new instrumental track by Brisbane band Make a montage. The track surges and recedes and flows with a sparkle and vivacity: scaling guitars that sweep over the wash of percussion and strings: distance feedback squalls like seabirds in flight and there is a magnificent, pulse …
Premiere: Ipswich instrumental magicians Coalfalls provide us with an exclusive listen to their new EP ‘Pieces’: a shimmering sonic temple
Ipswich band Coalfalls achieve something remarkable for a band that plays instrumentals: they create the most evocative and lush soundscapes that speak volumes without words. We introduced the band last year with their double singles Coalfalls and Stephenson Street evoking a layered shoegaze/dream pop vibe. There is an abstract expressionism in their pieces that sparkles …
Track: Brisbane artist Edith Thomas Furey unleashes the evocative post punk slasher ‘Evenings in the Park With Charles (Part 3).
Like some dark demonic apparition, Edith Thomas Furey‘s new track ‘Evenings in the Park with Charles (Part 3)’ looms in the darkness of the night with a brooding, foreboding prowl, close to the ground with teeth bared. It is an absolutely delicious piece of post punk gloom – a roaming throbbing bass, crystal-cut guitars that …
Album Review: Allday’s ‘Drinking With My Smoking Friends’ is an atmospheric masterclass in dreamy, melancholic indie pop
Adelaide born but now Melbourne resident Allday (the moniker of Tom Gaynor) magnificent album ‘Drinking With My Smoking Friends’ has been anticipated by a series of stunning singles that have indicated the presence of a special artist. Known more for rap, this album is a new turn – melodic dream pop that is sparkling. Opening track ‘Void’ is …
Track: All India Radio emits another bright ray of sunshine with the shimmering atmospheric track ‘El Cielo’
Martin Kennedy’s All India Radio released the magnificent album ‘Afterworld’ earlier this year and it still resonates with a shimmering and haunting aura – read my effusive review here. All India Radio has now released a new single from this epic album, ‘El Cielo’, with maestro Gareth Koch on board. Gareth Koch is a multi-talented …
EP Review: Oceans washes a dream pop shoegaze fugue over us with the epic ‘Come So Far’
‘Come So Far’ is an immersive and epic debut from Melbourne’s Oceans (the moniker of Thomas Lee): four tracks that shimmer and sparkle with an iron spine and a dreamy disposition. Lee says of the EP: This is my debut EP recorded for my solo project Oceans. It encapsulates the last 5-7 years of my …