Melbourne indie act KEEKS is better known for her work behind the scenes, writing tracks for local artists like RARIA and K-Pop acts including ENHYPHEN and TWICE. However, with her latest track “Tongue,” she shows us she has the charisma to step into the spotlight. This song is so fun, with plenty of attitude and a great groove.
Put KEEKS on your radar. With killer originals like this, she won’t be in the background for too long.
Image used with permission from KEEKS
As Pride Month comes to a close, there’s time for just one more queer anthem. Rising Aussie queer-pop act Beks has teamed up with European duo Paradigm for her new single “All the Good Boys Are Gay,” and it’s the perfect dancefloor filler to usher in the weekend.
Beks wrote the track as an ode to her favourite gay icons including Ricky Martin and Elton John and her besties. Paradigm loved her original demo and knew they could elevate it to the sparkly anthem it is today.
“I showed Seb from Paradigm an early demo of this track while I was at the Monster / Guesstimate International Songwriting Camp in Berlin, and he encouraged me to go bolder, bigger, and well, make it more gay, so we did that. I had a call with my amazing colleague, Christine, at Wise in NY and another writer in LA, and then I went straight to the studio with Patrick in Berlin to record it,” Beks explained.
Whether you’re hitting the clubs or enjoying a party for one, you’ll want to crank this one up.
Image used with permission from Monster Music Group
I know it’s early, but I’m pretty sure GUTHRIE’s new single “Best You Ever Had” will be the best thing you hear all day. The blending of folk and electronic influences is gorgeous, but it’s the direct, introspective lyrics that have really floored me. GUTHRIE wears their heart on their sleeve here, creating a track that’s so compelling to listen to. If you love artists like Bon Iver and Phoebe Bridgers, you’re going to flip for this.
““Best You Ever Had really is a sort of painful celebration of new love and its vulnerability,” GUTHRIE explained. “For me, every time I’ve fallen in love has changed who I am, and changed the way I look at things. So the song also says things don’t have to work out in order for them to be meaningful.”
“Best You Ever Had” is the opening song from GUTHRIE’s debut EP INCUBATOR, which drops on July 8. They’ll launch the EP with a show at Leadbeater in Richmond, Victoria, on August 26.
Image used with permission from Star Crossed PR
If your Tuesday needs a lift, you’ll want to hear Georgia Fields’ beautiful new single “Holding My Hands Out.” It’s such a stunning track, with Georgia’s sublime vocals and powerful lyrics set against a striking lush soundtrack. Georgia and her engineer and drummer Josh Barber layered sounds from half-broken children’s toys, vintage wooden percussion instruments, terracotta pots, and Georgia’s string quartet Andromeda through the track to create its unique sound.
“It’s a song about that primal desire we all have to be held. It’s about reaching your hands out for comfort, but grasping at shadows,” Georgia explained. “From a songwriting perspective, I was inspired by the simple yet anthemic choruses of artists like Sarah Blasko, Weyes Blood and Sharon van Etten. I was also hugely impacted by the novel Islands, by Australian author Peggy Frew. There’s something about Peggy’s writing that cuts straight to my heart – I’ve found all her novels deeply affecting. Holding My Hands Out is partly written from the perspective of her character June, as well as June’s mother, Helen.”
“Holding My Hands Out” is on all your favourite streaming services, but I think it’s best experienced with the creative music video, the 11th collaboration between Georgia and indie director and cinematographer Rohan Spong. It’s stunning, but if moths make you squeamish you might want to give it a miss!
“Holding My Hands Out” comes from Georgia’s long-awaited third album, Hiraeth, which is due to drop in November. Fans can expect to hear more from that release when she launches “Holding My Hands Out” with an all-ages matinee show at Wesley Anne on July 10.
Image used with permission from On the Map PR; credit: WILK
“If Shania Twain + Daft Punk met at an 80s aerobics class, sweatily hooked up and had a gay baby … she would be named ‘Cost of Love’,” shared Bec Sandridge on her latest single. It’s not a bad description! I also hear a little HAIM influence here. Either way, it’s bloody good fun! Bec’s first release since her 2019 debut album Try + Save Me, it’s a welcome return to the music scene.
“I wrote this song with dear pals Lucy Taylor and Dave Jenkins Jr. At the time, I was stuck in a kind of tug-of-war, arm-wrestle with myself … weighing up whether a certain relationship was worth it (the unraveling of a thread, the push and pull in compromise, digging up old and new dirt),” Bec admitted. “It felt like I had lost myself in a relationship that had a relatively frail foundation. Despite the rocky-ness of the whole thing, we kept trying to build upon it beyond the used-by-date … I guess, we attempted to roll the shit in shit-tonnes of glitter to a degree. This song was my attempt to explore being logical in love and answer the question of: ‘How do you know when to call it before you lose all of yourself and in turn, each other?’”
“Cost of Love” is the first track lifted from Bec’s new EP, Lost Dog, which drops on October 7. She’ll give music lovers a taste of more new material and all their old favourites when she launches “Cost of Love” with East Coast shows this August.
5 August 2022 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
11 August 2022 – Mary’s Underground, Sydney
12 August 2022 – UC Hub, Canberra
25 August 2022 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Image used with permission from Beehive PR; credit: Sam Brumby, editing Giulia McGauran
Aussie-born, US-based artist YDE has really impressed me with her latest single “Old Her”. With insightful lyrics and a fresh sound, I can’t stop listening. At 19 she’s probably too young for an existential crisis, but I’m buying it!
“‘Old Her’ is my perspective on growing up and feeling like life never gets easier,” YDE explained. “Each verse is a real-time reflection from different chapters of life that all point back to the sarcastic conclusion that ignorance is bliss.”
She’s not even out of her teens yet, but YDE has already accomplished so much. She had starring roles in the Nickelodeon series The Haunted Hathaways and School of Rock and Netflix’s Malibu Rescue. She also starred alongside Broadway queen Idina Menzel in the live production, WILD: A Musical Becoming. Past singles “BlindLife” and “Stopped Buying Diamonds” got the attention of Drake and Justin Bieber. Now “Old Her” sets the stage for YDE’s debut album, which drops later this year.
Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia
Aussie country artist Kora Naughton brings the good vibes with her fun new single “If You Ain’t”. This track is pure sunshine with lyrics that celebrate feeling good in your own skin and refusing to rely on anyone else for validation. Kora co-wrote the song with Canadian country artist Dustin Bird.
“It’s always a pretty surreal and awesome feeling to be able to connect with an artist on the other side of the world and create a song that you’re so genuinely proud of,” Kora said. “I was honestly in a bit of a writing slump before co-writing ‘If You Ain’t’ and I really feel like it just completely re-ignited my passion and inspiration for songwriting.”
Kora has plenty of gigs on the horizon. Here are all the places you can see her doing her thing!
25 June 2022 – Dandaloo Hotel, Dapto (8pm)
8 July 2022 – Towradgi Bowling Club, Towradgi (8pm)
15 July 2022 – Voco, Kirkton Park (3pm)
16 July 2022 – Bateau Bay Bowling Club, Bateau Bay (8pm)
22 July 2022 – West Pennant Hills Sports Club, West Pennant Hills (7:30pm)
23 July 2022 – Club Nowra, Nowra (7:30pm)
30 July 2022 – Shoalhaven Heads Bowlo, Shoalhaven Heads (6pm)
5 August 2022 – Towradgi Bowling Club, Towradgi (8pm)
6 August 2022 – Kiama Leagues Club, Kiama (8pm)
21 August 2022 – Dandaloo Hotel, Dapto (2pm)
27 August 2022 – Gerringong Bowlo, Gerringong (7pm)
3 September 2022 – Country Rocks Festival, Bungendore
16 September 2022 – Moorefield Bowling Club, Kogarah (6:30pm)
24 September 2022 – Shoalhaven Heads Bowlo, Shoalhaven Heads (6pm)
30 September 2022 – Towradgi Bowling Club, Towradgi (8pm)
2 October 2022 – Shoalhaven Heads Hotel, Shoalhaven Heads (1pm)
8 October 2022 – Illawarra Yacht Club, Warrawong (5:30pm)
21 October 2022 – Moorefield Bowling Club, Kogarah (6:30pm)
29 October 2022 – Gerringong Bowlo, Gerringong (7pm)
26 November 2022 – Shoalhaven Heads Bowlo, Shoalhaven Heads (6pm)
17 December 2022 – Gerringong Bowlo, Gerringong (7pm)
Image used with permission from Rock This Country
Sydney band Harlequins are Aussie city slickers, but they certainly don’t sound like it. Their latest single “All The Love” has a great country-soul sound that could have easily come from America’s Deep South. It sounds like nothing you’ll hear on radio at the moment, which is a key part of its charm. Harlequins is the musical brainchild of lifelong friends Marcus Child and Chris Bradley.
“Closest friends for 31 years. Except for the time one of us fell off the wagon. But we came back stronger,” they insist. “One ying, one yang. Two more different characters never cast together”.
I hear there’s more music where that came from too. After hearing this song, I’m pretty excited to discover what comes next.
Image used with permission from Footstomp Music
Georgie Neilsen wears her heart on her sleeve with her new folk-rock single “The Last Time I Felt Better.” There’s a powerful vulnerability about this song. The lyrics are honest and raw, the vocals straight from the gut, but there’s a real strength about the way Georgie owns her pain here. I’m a fan.
“‘Last Time I Felt Better’ is about the emotions experienced when two people suddenly appear in each other’s lives and instantly fall into a euphoric romance fuelled by an addiction to that feeling,” she explained. “When the relationship quickly hits a fork in the road, there is a realisation that this flame might burn out and it consumes you with the desire to make that feeling last forever.”
The Brisbane-based singer-songwriter has had such an interesting musical journey. Fronting her former band Georgie & The Growing Pains, she played big events like Mountain Goat Valley Crawl and Hidden Lanes Festival. Then she moved into cabaret as a solo artist, selling out multiple shows at Women in Voice, Queensland Cabaret Festival, and the recent Anywhere Festival. And now her sound has evolved again into something so organic and heartfelt.
Georgie will celebrate the release of “The Last Time I Felt Better” with a launch show at The Bearded Lady in Brisbane tomorrow night, June 25. Make sure you arrive early for Meg Ripps and Menajerie in the supporting slots.
Image used with permission from Kick Push PR
If you’re having one of those workdays that can’t end fast enough, allow yourself a couple of minutes to bliss out to “145,” the latest single from Sydney singer-songwriter Euan Hart. It’s a bit of a slow burner, but trust me, when it kicks in, you’ll be glad you stuck with it. This dreamy number is a sonic equivalent of an afternoon chocolate bar, soothing and so satisfying. The song was born out of the angst Euan felt during his studies.
“I was just starting back at uni and had a lot of anxiety around why I was there, why everyone was there,” Euan explained. “I felt a little strange about how these marks were determined by people that had simply done the same thing I was doing, but for a longer period of time.
The song’s music video, produced and directed by Euan and Jack Moran, is the second in a three-part series.
“Generally the trilogy is about mental health and being overwhelmed by other people’s expectations,” Euan said. “The biggest thing that annoys me in life is people not being nice to each other. It sounds simple and cheesy but surely it’s something everyone wants!”
Sydney, you can see Euan, one of the nice guys of the music industry, headlining a show at the OAF Gallery on August 4.
Image used with permission from Habit Music Co.; credit: Jack Moran