Author: Lauren Katulka

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Dean Lewis Releases New Acoustic Version of “Hurtless” To Coincide With Global Tour

Dean Lewis is so prolific, it’s so easy to miss those new singles when they drop. So I’m thrilled he’s rereleased his latest track “Hurtless” in a new stripped-back format. What a beautiful piano ballad this is. Can this guy put a foot wrong? It doesn’t seem like it!

“’Hurtless’ has immediately become one of those special, connecting moments in the live shows,” Dean said. “If there’s one thing my career so far has shown me, it’s that the more painfully honest about my own life I am in my songs – the more they seem to resonate”.

Speaking of live shows, Dean has just kicked off his Sad Boi tour in North America and will travel to Europe next. If you’re abroad, here are all the dates you need!

14 May 2022 – The Underground, Charlotte
16 May 2022 – Union Transfer, Philadelphia
17 May 2022 – The Fillmore, Silver Spring
20 May 2022 – Webster Hall, New York City
21 May 2022 – Roadrunner, Boston
23 May 2022 – MTELUS, Montreal
24 May 2022 – HISTORY, Toronto
26 May 2022 – Saint Andrew’s Hall, Detroit
27 May 2022 – Riviera Theatre, Chicago
28 May 2022 – Fillmore Minneapolis, Minneapolis
30 May 2022 – Ogden Theatre, Denver
31 May 2022 – The Depot, Salt Lake City
2 June 2022 – Malkin Bowl, Vancouver
4 June 2022 – The Showbox, Seattle
5 June 2022 – Roseland Theater, Portland
7 June 2022 – The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco
8 June 2022 – Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles
11 June 2022 – The Observatory North Park, San Diego
12 June 2022 – Marquee Theatre, Tempe
15 June 2022 – Granada Theater, Dallas
16 June 2022 – Emos Austin, Austin
17 June 2022 – Warehouse Live, Houston
20 June 2022 – The Orange Peel, Asheville
21 June 2022 – The National, Richmond
23 June 2022 – Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park
24 June 2022 – Mr. Small’s Theatre, Pittsburgh
25 June 2022 – Deluxe At Old National Centre, Indianapolis
28 June 2022 – The Pageant, St. Louis
29 June 2022 – The Truman, Kansas City
2 July 2022 – Summerfest, Milwaukee
7 July 2022 – Ottawa Blues Festival, Ottawa
8 July 2022 – Quebec International Summer Festival, Quebec
10 July 2022 – Wonderstruck Festival, Cleveland
17 September 2022 – Filadelfiakyrkan, Stockholm
18 September 2022 – Sentrum Scene, Oslo
20 September 2022 – Skråen i Nordkraft, Aalborg
21 September 2022 – Posted, Odense
22 September 2022 – Train, Århus
24 September 2022 – Train, Århus (SOLD OUT)
25 September 2022 – Forum Black Box, Copenhagen (SOLD OUT)
27 September 2022 – Forum Black Box, Copenhagen, Denmark
28 September 2022 – Train, Århus (SOLD OUT)
29 September 2022 – Markthalle, Hamburg
1 October 2022 – Progresja, Warsaw
3 October 2022 – ROXY Prague, Prague
4 October 2022 – Huxley’s, Berlin
6 October 2022 – Live Music Hall, Cologne
7 October 2022 – X-tra, Zurich
9 October 2022 – Magazzini Generali, Milan
11 October 2022 – La Madeleine, Brussels
12 October 2022 – Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht
13 October 2022 – Paradiso, Amsterdam
15 October 2022 – Le Trianon, Paris

Image used with permission from Island Records Australia; credit: Darren Craig

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Taylah Carroll Stuns With “Have a Party on Me”

Melbourne artist Taylah Carroll has given me tingles with her new track “Have a Party on Me”. Her first release through [PIAS} Australia, it’s the perfect breakup song. If you love your music with a healthy dose of angst, this one’s for you. Taylah worked with director Nick Mckk on the accompanying video, which they filmed in a mid-century Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired holiday rental in regional Victoria.

“We really wanted this clip to feel more cinematic, and it takes itself more seriously than previous ones. In a nutshell – it explores the narrative of a woman who lives alone, and steals lamps in order to conduct a lonesome light show at night,”

Taylah will launch “Have a Party on Me” on me tonight at The Old Bar in Melbourne. Make sure you arrive early for supporting sets from Ruby Whiting and Dogs Don’t Kiss.

Image used with permission from [PIAS] Australia; credit Nick Mckk

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Start Your Day Right With Kedus’ New Single, “Ballroom Bop”

Brisbane artist Kedus has just released his silky-smooth new single, “Ballroom Bop,” and it’s an absolute banger. Just see if you can resist grooving along when that beat drops.

“My bro Soulis cooked up the beat and sent it to me and as soon as I heard it I loved it,” enthused Kedus. “I then recorded a melody at my stu and wrote to it and then re-recorded the vocals, and this came out of it.”

Kedus’ “stu” is a home studio he built by the time he turned 15. Since then he’s self-engineered five mixtapes and recorded an EP. This is a guy that’s serious about his music.

This ultra-cool track comes perfectly packaged with a music video inspired by Old Hollywood. It’s an absolute stunner with a classic aesthetic and Kedus at his dapper best. Expect to see and hear a lot more from Kedus this year.

Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia; credit: OB Life

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

“What Did You Expect?” – Lemaire

Lemaire really impressed me a few months ago with his relatable single “Ford Laser”. He’s dishing out more rhymes with an Aussie flavour in his new EP What Did You Expect?

In truth, if you’ve listened to “Ford Laser”, you know exactly what to expect from this EP. And it’s fabulous. The rap scene is full of posers, up-and-comers who believe in faking it until they make it and established artists keen to flaunt their wealth. But you’ll never catch Lemaire being anything other than authentic. He celebrates his “shitbox” Ford Laser. “Shiraz” tells us he’d rather sip on an Aussie red than Cristal. There’s no coincidence that “Be Myself”, a collaboration with BOY SODA, sits square in the middle of this EP, anchoring it with its theme of self-acceptance. Lemaire knows where he came from. Rather than avoiding Australianisms that might not translate to a global audience, he’s happy to namecheck everything from that iconic car to Queensland’s premier. These are songs written with tongue planted firmly in cheek. International music fans might not quite catch or understand the humour, but as an Aussie listener, I had a blast with these songs.

What Did You Expect? didn’t just meet my expectations, but exceeded them. This collection of songs is so much fun. Lemaire represents the new breed of Aussie rappers well. Like Illy and Baker Boy, he’s creating music that’s so positive and proudly rooted in our culture. With his first EP, Lemaire shows us who he is and that he’s got a bright future ahead.

Images used with permission from GYRO PR

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

James Johnston Gets Nostalgic With “Country Boys”

There’s a perception that artists who came to our attention through reality TV shows never go on to have long-standing careers in the music industry. However, in reality, plenty of singer-songwriters have used these platforms to do amazing things. Take James Johnston, who first caught my attention on The X Factor way back in 2014. He’s just returned from performing alongside Lee Kernaghan at the 50th Tamworth Country Music Festival and Golden Guitar Awards. He’s clocked up more than 14 million streams. His last single “Small Town” spent 10 weeks at the top of the CountryTown Hot 50 airplay charts. And he’s just released a new track, “Country Boys”, which deserves to be every bit as successful. The song sees James reminiscing about his childhood in Wingham, in regional New South Wales.

“’Country Boys’ is my childhood captured in a song,” he said. “From riding dirt bikes to losing summers swimming in the creek.”

As the weather cools, the country music scene is heating up. James is on board for a whole string of festivals in the coming months. Check him out at one of the following events:

20 May 2022 – Nebo Hotel Pre-Rodeo Street Party, Nebo
21 May 2022 – PBR Australia @ Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
27 May 2022 – Boots & Beach Festival, Port Macquarie
11 June 2022 – Buck Wild Country Barn Sessions, Townsville
30 July 2022 – Tara Festival of Culture & Camel Races, Tara
20 August 2022 – NQ’s Rock’n Country Music Festival, Mackay
26 August 2022 – Gympie Music Muster, Gympie
23-25 September 2022 – CMC Rocks, Willowbank
2 October 2022 – Savannah in the Round, Mareeba

Image used with permission from Wildheart Publicity

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Dylan J Drops Fresh New Single “Before It Started”

Singer-songwriter Dylan J made waves with his last single “Notice Me,” a duet with Ruel. With his latest single “Before It Started,” Dylan is showing us what he can do on his own. Spoiler alert: it’s pretty fantastic. It’s a more upbeat pop track than his previous effort, but it shines just as brightly.

“Only on rare occasions do I find that songs write themselves and ‘Before It Started’ was one of them,” he said. “I’m almost certain I wrote this entire song in around 45 minutes. I was experiencing a deep sadness and disappointment from a relationship that ended before it had the chance to become a relationship, one I felt so confident about. So this song had to be written, purely for me to process what I was feeling at the time.”

“Before It Started” gives us our latest taste of Dylan J’s forthcoming EP “4 Songs I Made in California,” which drops on May 19. If recent releases are any indication, it’ll be well worth a listen.

Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Savour MID CITY’s New Single, “Choc Mint”

MID CITY’s latest single “Choc Mint” is exactly the kind of high-energy rock number your weekend needs. Just see if you’re not punching your fist in the air by the time that chorus kicks in. Like the love child of Gang of Youths and Arctic Monkeys, the Melbourne band has really outdone themselves here. They had a simple aim with this single: they want to get you moving!

“Our entire existence as a band is about getting people to uncross their arms at gigs,” they said. “There’s enough terrible stuff going on in the world without a bunch of relatively fortunate dudes in a band making people feel worse about themselves or disappearing up their collective musical butts trying to be the saviours of music as we know it. We wanna write fast songs with big choruses that make other things in your life feel less shit.”

Amen to that! “Choc Mint” is the first track lifted from MID CITY’s forthcoming debut album. The band are preparing to play a few shows in Europe but they’ll be back before too long for some Aussie dates. Catch them anywhere you can!

16 May 2022 – Ostpol, Dresden
17 May 2022 – Klubovna, Prague
18 May 2022 – Privatclub, Berlin
19 May 2022 – Nochtspeicher, Hamburg
20 May 2022 – Artheater, Koln
21 May 2022 – Jugendheim, Haldern
24 May 2022 – Schon Shon, Mainz
25 May 2022 – Kohl, Karlsruhe
26 May 2022 – Substanz, Munich
2 July 2022 – The Workers Club, Melbourne
15 July 2022 – The Chippo, Sydney
16 July 2022 – The Greaser, Brisbane (FREE)

Image used with permission from Beehive PR; credit: Nick Manuell

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

“Everybody Knows I’m Here” – Various Artists

As every new single dropped, I got a little more excited about Everybody Knows I’m Here. Albums of cover versions are a dime a dozen. Usually they’re designed simply to sell. Gather up some popular artists, get them to record some popular songs, and you’ve got a recipe for success. Now that it’s finally dropped I can confidently say, this album doesn’t play it so safe. It’s so much better for it.

Of course, the music from Chess Records is enduringly popular. Songs like “Johnny B. Goode”, “Mannish Boy”, and “Susie Q” are pop culture staples. But the versions on this album aren’t karaoke covers. Each one is thoughtful and considered. The diverse artists featured use these songs from the great American songbook as a platform to say something about their own experiences. They’re First Nations people, immigrants, gender-diverse acts, people who know what it’s like to walk outside privilege. I’d wager their names aren’t familiar to many Australians, but their insightful interpretations and new rap sections breathe new life into these songs.

If you don’t know your history, Chess Records was established in Chicago in 1950. For two and a half decades it gave black American artists a voice. It launched as a blues label but the stable grew to celebrate soul, gospel, jazz, and early rock and roll. Today this album celebrates its legacy and gives our marginalised artists their chance to speak up. These songs were recorded in a different time and place, but listening to these songs you understand a lot hasn’t changed. Themes of struggle, independence, identity, pride, and love still resonate.

Everybody Knows I’m Here is an exciting and important piece of work. It pays loving tribute to the legacy of Chess Records and reinterprets the music to make powerful statements about life for Australian black, Indigenous, and people of colour today. Make sure you take a listen.


Images used with permission from Chester Records

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Fiona O’Shea Releases Confident New Single, “Falling Off Getting Back On”

Fiona O’Shea’s new single “Falling Off Getting Back On” is an anthem for resilience and female empowerment. Electric guitar licks from Fiona’s husband Mark O’Shea add some rock edge to this country tune.

“Falling Off Getting Back On” is the first of three singles Fiona will drop this year. She produced all three along with her husband Mark and engineer/producer Aaron Giffin at Coolum Beach’s Sleepwalk Studios. Before their release, Fiona will celebrate the launch of “Falling Off Getting Back On” with a show tonight at Tewantin Noosa RSL.

Image used with permission from Fiona O’Shea

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Yb. Impresses With “Change Your Mind”

Recently handpicked by triple J Unearthed to open the inaugural THIS THAT show at Sandstone Point, it seems like Yb. is impressing the right people right now. If you’re not already on board, his dreamy new single “Change Your Mind” might just convince you that he’s the real deal.

“’Change Your Mind’ in its essence is about emotional acceptance,” said Yb. “Written into the song, is a series of challenging feelings and realisations. These lyrics follow an interaction between two parties battling their internal sentiments, ultimately leading to ‘the singer’ accepting that they are not in control of the tendencies of another.”

“Change Your Mind” gives us our first taste of Yb.’s debut EP, which should drop really soon.

Image used with permission from GYRO PR