backseat downunder

See: Eves Karydas shares a raw, emotive video for the gorgeous track ‘Freckles’ – a poignant look at the transience of life – and announces tour
Queenslander Eves Karydas‘s new single ‘Freckles’ is a song soaked with emotion and a certain personal vulnerability. Pure melancholic pop that glitters with melody dealing with the transience of life and the small things that can affect you. Karydas’s vocals are glorious: expressive and enchanting. She says of the track: Freckles has been years in the …

See: Huck Hastings releases rich and evocative video for track ‘The Clincher’
Huck Hastings‘s album ‘Cheers To Progress’ was released earlier this year to great acclaim – in my review I summed it up as being ‘a collection of beautiful personal observations on relationships and love, floating across shimmering instrumentation: intelligent and arch’. And as time passes, this view remains steadfast: it is truly a gracious and …

Track: Hayley Mary releases the slow burning ballad ‘Young And Stupid’ and announces news of EP ‘The Drip’ and tour
Chanteuse from the acclaimed The Jezabels, Hayley Mary, has just announced her sophomore EP ‘The Drip’ for release on 18 June 2021 and added some icing to the cake with the release of a new track off the EP, ‘Young And Stupid’. As with many releases this year, the haunting presence of COVID continues to …

Premiere: Infinity Broke unleash the powerful battering ram of a single, ‘Death of a Tourist’, and announce album and single launch dates
We are very pleased to premiere Sydney band Infinity Broke‘s exciting new single ‘Death of a Tourist’ – the first single off their forthcoming new album ‘Your Dream My Jail’. ‘Death of a Tourist’ has a full frontal brutal attack – an angular marching bass and urgent vocals with barely restrained full-throated clattering percussion. There …

Premiere: Swimsuit Issue sparkle in the sunshine with new track ‘Hit It With You’
Swimsuit Issue are proving themselves to be one of the most intriguing and adventurous indie groups around – refusing to stand in one place and refusing to be easily labelled. The first single we reviewed, ‘Addict’ was a cathartic and blistering punk onslaught, followed by the anthemic indie pure pop fizz of ‘The Feeling‘. We …

Track: Melbourne’s Oceans unveils the shimmering track ‘Break My Fall’ and announces the release of EP and launch
Melbournite Thomas Lee works under the name Oceans and his new single ‘Break My Fall’ is an immersive and delicious track with subtle switches between a shoegaze drone and a dreamy pop fugue. Lee’s voice haunts in the distance beneath a simmering razor-sharp guitar and synth wash, infused with a detached melancholia and indelible melodies. …

Album Review: Merk’s ‘Infinite Youth’ is an exquisite exploration of the end of childhood innocence and the transience of life
New Zealand artist Merk is the moniker of Auckland, New Zealand artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mark Perkins, who began his career as a touring member of Tom Lark and Fazerdaze. I reviewed his single ‘Laps Around The Sun’ earlier this year finding it to be yearning, raw and melodic, with a deep melancholia reflecting on …

Album Review: All India Radio emanates waves of glorious, glittering signals with the immersive ‘Afterworld’
There is a mesmerising aura to All India Radio‘s absolutely magnificent album ‘Afterworld’ that spills forth a series of incredible beautiful moments that glitter and shine. This is an album that immediately send you into a blissful reverie with its quiet, ambient movements that are emotional and affecting. The album is a connecting whole – …

Track: Tyne-James Organ continues to shine with the shimmering, poignant new single ‘London Calling’, and announces tour dates
Tyne-James Organ’s previous single this year, the delightful ‘Sunday Suite’, was a perfect fit – filled with sunshine and melody highlighting Organ’s sparkling vocals (read our review here). The follow up to this is just as terrific. ‘London Calling’ dons a parachute to slow down the descent but nonetheless is an epic delight: a reflective …

Track: Pacific Avenue pour some brilliant sunshine into their new track ‘Easy Love’ and announce Australia wide headline tour
There is a sparkling seventies sunshine feel to the new single by NSW South Coast band Pacific Avenue that emanates pure golden rays. Layered harmonies, arcing guitars and a powerful melody serve to illuminate this track: bolstered by one of those guitar solos that pop and strut around with attitude. Singer Harry O’Brien says of …