Good honest pop-rock is something we just don’t hear enough of at the moment, so I’m pretty excited to hear “Time,” a new single from the Yarra Valley’s Shaun Black.
There’s more than a hint of blues in this track, which is Shaun’s first single. He sings with a whole lot of soul and plays the guitar like nobody’s business. The song’s lyrics are also so relatable for many of us in this fast-paced modern world.
“This song is about something we all seem to not have enough of,” Shaun explained in a press release. “In today’s world full of smartphones and deadlines I think we all feel at some point in time that we need to get back in touch with ourselves and our own lives.”
When the Veronicas topped the singles charts last week with “In My Blood,” I was too swamped with paying gigs to cover it. Now they’ve repeated the feat, I thought I’d better make time to note their achievements. Will the sisters equal their longest reign at number one, achieved with “You Ruin Me” in September 2014, and stay at the top spot for another week?
Last week’s number one album, Wings of the Wild by Delta Goodrem has slipped to number two to make way for another homegrown Aussie act, The Avalanches. Sixteen years after the release of their celebrated debut album Since I Left You, the Melbourne electronic act has snared their first number one with the follow-up, Wildflower.
Another former one, Ripcord by Keith Urban, has shown it has real staying power. It has remained at number seven this week, 10 weeks after its debut. The always popular Hillsong United has risen to number eight with their latest release, Of Dirt And Grace – Live From The Land.
Here’s a closer look at this week’s top ten singles and albums.
Top 10 Albums
1. Wildflower – The Avalanches
2. Wings of the Wild – Delta Goodrem
3. California – Blink-182
4. 25 – Adele
5. Lemonade – Beyonce
6. The Getaway – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
7. Ripcord – Keith Urban
8. Of Dirt And Grace – Live From The Land – Hillsong United
9. Blank Face LP – ScHoolboy Q
10. Views – Drake
Top 10 Singles
1. “In My Blood” – The Veronicas
2. “One Dance” – Drake feat. Wizkid & Kyla
3. “This is What You Came For” – Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna
4. “Treat You Better” – Shawn Mendes
5. “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” – Justin Timberlake
6. “Too Good” – Drake featuring Rihanna
7. “Don’t Let Me Down” – The Chainsmokers feat. Daya
8. “Me Too” – Meghan Trainor
9. “Don’t Be So Shy” – Imany
10. “We Don’t Talk Anymore” – Charlie Puth feat. Selena Gomez
I’ve long been a fan of Henry Wagons’ slightly unhinged style of Americana folk. He’s served up another winner with his latest song “Head Or Heart.”
“Nashville is a town full of some of the finest in music and booze. A musician’s paradise! It’s the perfect storm for getting in a real mess. ‘Head or Heart’ is a song about that time of the night when it becomes difficult to decide between your rational mind, or what’s below the belt. The head or the heart,” Henry explained in a press release.
The clip has got just the right sort of spontaneous feel to suit the song. It sees Henry on a music-making frenzy, shaking the foundations of a fully stocked garage along with the band that helped him put together his recently released solo album After What I Did Last Night.
Henry Wagons is currently touring around North America. He’s set to announce some Aussie dates soon.
16 & 17 July 2016 – Vancouver Folk Festival, Vancouver
21 July 2016 – The Flying Steamshovel, Rossland
23 July 2016 – Vinomania Secret Wine Party, Edmonton
24 July 2016 – Interstellar Rodeo, Edmonton
25 July 2016 – Secret Show, Edmonton
26 July 2016 – Ironwood, Calgary
29 July 2016 – Live From the Divide, Bozeman
30 July 2016 – Red Ants Pants Festival, White Sulphur Springs
3 August 2016 – Music City Roots, Nashville
5 August 2016 – Hill Country Live DC, Washington
6 August 2016 – Hill Country Live NYC, New York City
11 August 2016 – Dakota Tavern, Toronto
12 August 2016 – Pearl Company, Hamilton
14 August 2016 – Interstellar Rodeo, Winnipeg
After taking much of 2015 off and almost disbanding, The Bon Scotts are back with a cracking new single “Main Street.”
It’s a politically charged look at the racism that so often masquerades as patriotism these days, and the way society needs conversations, understanding, and empathy rather than anger and ignorance. It asks the poignant question “Can either side be part of the solution when they often seem to be the root cause of the problem?” The video was shot by the band in their hometown of Coburg at a race rally this May.
This is the first song to come from the band’s upcoming new album When I’m Lonely I Still Think Of You, which should drop next March.
With her debut album This Paradise in stores today, it seemed the perfect time to share Lucy Roleff’s new single “Aspen” with you.
This is such a beautiful song, delicate and haunting. I’ve heard it classified as chamber folk, which is a pretty apt descriptor if you ask me. There’s something almost spiritual about it.
If you love this song, and you want to hear more, make sure you get This Paradise, which is available on CD, vinyl, and for digital download from today. Lucy will launch the album at The Gasometer in Collingwood on July 28.
With a weekend looming, most of us are probably feeling pretty good about life. “Firetrain,” the latest single from Adelaide muso Todd Sibbin is the perfect accompaniment to those good vibes. With its hand claps and bold trumpets, this optimistic number is a real winner.
Todd describes the single as “being about putting out psychological fires, both the ones you create yourself, and the ones others create for you.”
“Firetrain” is just one of the excellent songs on Todd Sibbin’s new album The Bottled Ship Got Freedom, which is available now.
With a loyal fan base and plenty of buzz, Runaway Weekend could well be the next big thing. When they released the video for “Déjà Vu,” the title track from their debut EP, recently it garnered 20,000 views in just a couple of days.
I love the way this band plays with light and shade. The song is so epic and dramatic in places, but delicately restrained in others. I’m doubly impressed that Runaway Weekend have written, produced, and recorded this song and the others on their EP themselves. It’s got such a professional sound that we don’t normally see from acts just starting to play with production.
“We really hope that people can find something of themselves in our music and if they do, hopefully they can also lock themselves away in it to escape from reality for a bit, like we do with our favourite bands,” the guys from Runaway Weekend explained.
“At the end of the day we’re just some teenagers from Adelaide who want to affect people, we want to make people feel something, be that utter happiness or realisation. Through our music we want to touch people, like we’ve been touched by artists and if we can do half as good a job as the artists we admire, we’d be totally complete.”
Runaway Weekend are currently touring their EP. You can catch them at Wrangler in Melbourne on the 16th of July and Producer’s Bar in Adelaide on July 18.
With the release of their latest single “Young Gun,” Sydney quartet Burn Antares continue to show they’re like no one else on the modern musical landscape.
There’s a sweetness in frontwoman Grace Farriss’s vocals which is beautifully tempered by the song’s big crunchy chords. It’s a throwback to the heady heyday of glam and psychedelic rock, but it somehow manages to sound fresh rather than dated.
“We typically spend countless hours creating our songs, being very clinical and harsh with ourselves but with Young Gun, it was quite different. We went at it with open minds and experimented a lot more with sounds in the studio and generally had a bit more fun with it,” Grace explained in a press release. “I think the end result is a great reflection of the process and the vibe was captured perfectly by our producer Tony [Buchen].”
Is “Young Gun” the cure for what ails you this Thursday morning?
Robbie Miller could sing the phone book and I’d probably still listen. Thankfully though he’s being a little more ambitious with his new single “Road.”
It’s a slightly new sound for Robbie, with electronic elements building on the acoustic folk he’s famous for. It’s not such a dramatic departure that it should lose him any fans though.
There’s talk than a new EP isn’t too far off, which is a blessing if like me you can’t get enough of this incredible singer. Robbie is also set to hit the road supporting Dustin Tebbutt. Make sure you arrive early enough for his set at the following shows.
4 August 2016 – Byron Theatre, Broken Head
5 August 2016 – Foundry, Fortitude Valley
6 August 2016 – Solbar, Maroochydore
11 August 2016 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
12 August 2016 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (SOLD OUT)
13 August 2016 – Workers Club, Geelong
18 August 2016 – Newtown Social Club, Newtown
19 August 2016 – Newtown Social Club, Newtown (SOLD OUT)
20 August 2016 – Transit Bar, Canberra
26 August 2016 – Jack Rabbit Slims, Northbridge
27 August 2016 – Jive, Adelaide
It seems like Australians have a lot to be angry about, because I think punk music is the strongest it’s been in this country for a really long time. The latest punk act to cross my path is Jones the Cat, a four-piece out of Newcastle who are currently touring their new EP Paste On Smile.
These guys formed at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music in 2013, and they’ve been relentlessly gigging and recording ever since. The EP features the lead single “I Don’t Want to Die Here (Anymore),” an introspective take on gentrification and outgrowing a city that this girl from Newie gets all too well.
These are the remaining dates for the Paste On Smile EP tour.
21 July 2016 – Captain Cook Hotel, Sydney
22 July 2016 – Crown & Anchor Hotel, Adelaide
23 July 2016 – Whole Lotta Love, Melbourne
5 August 2016 – The Lass O’Gowrie, Newcastle
Image used with permission from Done Music Publicity
4 August 2016 – Byron Theatre, Broken Head
21 July 2016 – Captain Cook Hotel, Sydney