Step back in time with “Little Lovin” the latest single from Sydney singer-songwriter Peter Senior. It’s a charming retro throwback with old-school soul harmonies and an infectious energy.
If you love it, there’s more where that came from. “Little Lovin” is the second single lifted from Peter’s debut album On the Edge, which is out now.
Image used with permission from Australia Radio Promotion
Melbourne powerhouse Bianca Modesti is making a strong statement with her rocking new single “Race Against Time.” It’s a cracker of a track which celebrates surviving against the odds and pursuing your dreams, no matter what it takes. With plenty of pop-rock attitude, she’s sounding like a modern day Pat Benatar or Ann Wilson.
She might have just popped up on my radar, but Bianca is no overnight success story. She’s spent years performing and writing the songs that will feature on her upcoming debut album. If they’re all as strong as this one, I can’t wait to hear them!
I’m all for any initiative that takes talented unsigned artists out of their bedrooms and puts them in the spotlight. So I’m pretty excited about today’s launch of Exist. Exclusives, a new initiative from Exist. Recordings.
The label will release a new track from an unsigned artist every fortnight. The first is “Compass,” an incredible new song from Western Australia’s Brayden Sibbald. You might remember I brought you his track “Float” last year. I loved that song but I think “Compass” is even better.
After such a strong start, I can’t wait to hear what Exist. Exclusives dishes up next.
Fresh from her appearances at the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival shows, Charlie Collins is gearing up for her first headline tour next month. The Sydney-based, Tamworth-bred artist will have plenty of new material up her sleeve for the shows. She’s just released an incredible new single “Beautifully Blind,” the first from her forthcoming debt album Snowpine.
“Beautifully Blind” is a deeply personal track about toxic relationships.
“The song was written with friends who came to the session with this idea of two people tearing each other apart, not knowing that pain was already in my orbit,” Charlie admitted. “Our words connected on this tune that shows the contradictory pathetic and poetic faces we use to mask our hurt.”
Snowpine drops on May 31. It will be available digitally, but if you’re a real fan I suggest preordering one of the limited edition coloured vinyl copies. Charlie will support Death Cab for Cutie before embarking on her own headline tour. Here are all the dates you need!
9 March 2019 – Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra (with Death Cab for Cutie)
22 March 2019 – The Lansdowne, Sydney
29 March 2019 – Worker’s Club, Melbourne
30 March 2019 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane
Image used with permission from Habit Music Company
Canadian-born, Australian-based songbird Emily Coulston has blown me away with her dreamy new single “Follow You.” Her voice is so pure and angelic and her lyrics, which deal with the emotions she felt leaving her Edmonton home behind for the land Down Under are so relatable.
“The intimidatingly high hurdles of self-doubt and fear inevitably show up and cause you to question how much you’re willing to trust in yourself and the journey,” she explained. “This song is me feeling all that and saying, ‘Okay, I’m all in.’”
Emily will officially launch “Follow You” with a show at the Milk Factory in Brisbane on February 28.
Image used with permission from GYROstream
She might hail from Tamworth, but Hattie Oates has more in common with Amy Winehouse or Joss Stone than any of the city’s country darlings. Her debut single “She’s All Yours” showcases the funky soul-pop leanings of this young talent. And did I mention that she’s just 15?
“I chose to release this as my debut single due to it’s catchy, fresh pop sound just in time for summer,” Hattie explained of this song, which explores the trials and tribulations of living in a love triangle.
“She’s All Yours” comes from Hattie’s debut EP, simply called Hattie, which is available now.
Adelaide five-piece The Max Headroom have released a new alternative-rock anthem, “Working.”
The track is a little rough around the edges, but that’s a part of its charm. I love the garage-rock grunginess of it. The imperfections in lead singer Ben Martin’s voice gives it a relatable honesty.
“The small place that’s mentioned can be anything that you can relate it to,” he explained. “It’s about leaving a place where you felt at home and having to leave certain people along with it.”
While the band has only been together since early last year, the bare bones of this track was actually conceived when the guitarist Marcus Kernahan and drummer Pat Kernahan were playing as a two-piece in 2015. Adding Ben’s lyrics and some extra bass and rhythm has helped bring the duo’s vision to life. It’s taken some time, but I think it’s been worth the wait.
Image used with permission from the A&R Department
After 10 years in the business, Melbourne band Buchanan has gone their separate ways. But not leaving fans with a parting gift, their final EP, The Crayon Collective. It’s a fitting celebration of their career, a mixtape if you will featuring songs recorded in collaboration with every producer they’ve worked with over their 10-year run.
The lead single “An Uncommon Experience” feels like the perfect good bye. The accompanying video, a retrospective of Buchanan’s 10-year career, hits just the right note.
Buchanan were a welcome addition to the Aussie music scene. I wish all the guys in the band the best of luck for the future!
Canberra’s own Hands Like Houses are reminding us just why they’re one of Australia’s best rock acts with the release of their latest single, “Sick.” It’s an epic track, lifted from their fourth album -Anon, which gives the finger to people who try to take advantage of us.
“I think everyone knows the feeling of being taken advantage of – especially when you put yourself out for someone to have them want more,” acknowledged the band’s frontman, Trenton Smith. “Sometimes you can walk away, and other times you just have to take it in your stride because you’re focused on something bigger. Entitlement is bullshit but that’s when you have to remember, with a wry grin, that other people don’t control you.”
The video, shot in the Californian desert, is every bit as compelling as the song it accompanies.
Hands Like Houses’ upcoming tour is their biggest headlining run to date, and you can bet they’ll rise to the occasion. It all kicks off in their home town this Friday.
8 February 2019 – UC Refectory, Canberra
9 February 2019 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
15 February 2019 – The Tivoli, Brisbane
16 February 2019 – The Forum, Melbourne
22 February 2019 – HQ Complex, Adelaide
23 February 2019 – Astor Theatre, Perth
Image used with permission from Bianca Blancato
Mondays are hard, but Daniel Trakell can help ease you into your working week with his dreamy new single “Wisdom/Boredom.” It’s a beautiful folk ditty recorded in Nashville and produced by Daniel’s regular collaborator and friend Joshua Barber (Gretta Ray, Gotye).
It’s got such a dreamy, organic folky sound, that it’d be easy to let it wash over you without really tapping in to what it has to say. That’d be a shame though, because “Wisdom/Boredom” is an insightful track about the choices we make.
“‘Wisdom/Boredom’ is a song about the life-altering decisions which come with growing older,” Daniel explained. “Choices which can seem mundane at first but change the course of our lives, and tough decisions which we agonise over but end up being of little consequence. Often we can’t realise the quality of our judgement until we look back with the wisdom of hindsight.”
Melbournians are in luck, with Daniel preparing to take up residency at Some Velvet Morning. Starting this week, he’ll play free shows every Thursday night.
Image used with permission from Beehive PR; credit: Savannah van der Niet