I wrote this post a week ago, as rain bucketed down in Darkinjung Country/the Central Coast. But I queued it up to post as I arrive in Japan. As I trade their summer for the last dregs of our winter, it seemed like the right time to share “Paradise,” the summery new single from Salt Tree. If you’re not lucky enough to have a trip on horizon, close your eyes and I swear this track will get you there for a few minutes.
“The song is about imagining a life you could build with someone in a new place,” the band said. “It’s about choosing to stay, to commit, and to create something real together. ‘Paradise’ is wherever you choose it to be, wherever you feel accepted, loved, have purpose, and feel at home.”
“Paradise” comes from Salt Tree’s new EP Adrift, which drops on October 24.
“Adrift is a collection of songs about the moments in life when you feel unanchored; between places, between relationships, between versions of yourself,” Salt Tree explained. “Each track explores a different kind of drifting – from the lows of mental struggle to the excitement of new love, from the sadness of letting go to the hope of being a better person. It’s about learning to trust that even when you’re unmoored, you’re still moving toward something real.”
Salt Tree are currently touring Europe, but they’ll be back here to celebrate the release of Adrift before you know it. Here are all the places you can catch their folky goodness in the coming months.
After writing songs with Guy Sebastian and for The Voice winner Lachie Gill, Ned Houston is stepping behind the mic with his debut single. The singer-songwriter from Ngambri/Canberra wrote “Self Defence” in Nashville with Melissa Fuller, who’s written songs for everyone from Trisha Yearwood to Grace Potter, and Grammy-winning lyricist David Hodges, who’s known for his work with Ed Sheeran, Evanescence, and Christina Perri.
Melissa was pregnant at the time, and Ned said her “calm, maternal energy” helped him open up and process his feelings about the relationship he left behind six months prior. “Self Defence” was the result of that vulnerable songwriting session.
“The song came from a very real moment in my life — a betrayal I didn’t fully process until much later. I’d found out, through a friend, that my partner had been with someone else while I was overseas working,” he recalled. “When I confronted her, she tried to cover it up using a family member’s mental health crisis as an excuse. I ended things immediately – no arguments, no closure – just silence. At the time, I thought I was okay. But months later in Nashville, the grief of that relationship hit me unexpectedly, and hard. ‘Self Defence’ is about that delayed processing of a relationship that ended suddenly without any closure. It explores the blurred line between protecting yourself and leaving something unresolved.”
With a dream team of songwriters, the track was always going to feel more polished than your average debut. But couple those lyrics with Ned’s vulnerable vocals and you’ve got a recipe for success. Hopefully this marks a new chapter as a solo artist, because he’s clearly got the goods.
Naarm/Melbourne chanteuse Kee’ahn casts a spell with their latest neo-soul single “Heavy.” While you’re settling into the groove, don’t miss the lyrics which speak of the importance of connection in the healing process.
“It’s a reminder that our heaviest moments are meant to be shared,” Kee’ahn said. “That we need each other. It’s about the power of community, holding on and letting ourselves be held. A message we all need right now.”
Kee’ahn looked to their community to bring this one to life. It features guitar and bass from OjiAji, keys from Yusuf Harare Jnr, flute from Kasinda Faase, and drums from Kawel Che. This soundscape is all tied together neatly with production from Pataphysics. “Heavy” also comes with a film clip shot and edited by Sapphic Flicks in Kee’ahn’s hometown of Gurambilbarra and Thul Garrie Waja/Townsville after a period of intense flooding.
“All three of us stayed in the house I grew up in and filmed in the backyard with my mum, aunties, cousins, nan, and niece assisting and featuring in the piece,” Kee’ahn explained. “I wanted the visuals to honour women, family, and country. That we must hold each other just as country and water hold us.”
I can hear Kee’ahn’s influences like Lauryn Hill and Janelle Monae coming through, but they reinterpret the neo-soul genre in such an exciting, Australian way. I love this song and can’t wait to hear more from Kee’ahn.
Coming out of Dharawal/Campbelltown, RISSA is giving me old school R&B vibes with her latest single “FOREVER.” Her pure, heavenly vocals remind me a bit of Ashanti or Aaliyah.
“‘FOREVER’ encapsulates the moments and feelings in dating when you feel yourself falling for someone but are unsure if those feelings are just for now or forever,” RISSA said. “Teaming up with New Zealand talents, Edy Liu and Sam V, we pieced together an R&B track full of soul. This one is for the yearners who want a forever kind of love!”
“FOREVER” comes with a cool video filmed and edited by four:three, who are known for making fire clips for hot local artists like Barkaa and Chanel Loren. It all comes together so beautifully, I can’t wait to hear and see more from RISSA.
It’s an exciting time to be a Peach Fuzz fan. The Naarm/Melbourne-based indie-rockers have just dropped a fantastic new single, “Fall Right Back to You” ahead of the release of their new EP and headlining tour of the East Coast. I love this song. It’s not just a total banger. It also has some really relatable lyrics about second-guessing the decision to walk away from a relationship.
“The lyrics speak to that feeling of remorse and yearning,” the band said. “When you’re unsure if you made the right call.”
“Every song on this EP lets you sing your heart out about some very real and very chaotic emotion you’ve probably had towards someone,” Peach Fuzz shared. “It’s indecisive, emotional, and loud – just like your early 20’s should be.”
You’ll have a couple of weeks to learn all those new lyrics before Peach Fuzz head out on their East Coast tour supported by rising indie-folk act Lottie McLeod.
I’m rocking out this afternoon to “Candy Mouth,” the irresistible new single from Eora/Sydney pop-punk act SoSo. It’s ridiculously catchy with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about navigating the music industry. “Candy Mouth” comes from SoSo’s forthcoming album So Much For Second Chances, which they’ve boldly predicted will hit number one. Given the quality of all the tracks I’ve heard so far, they might just be right.
“‘Candy Mouth’ was actually the last song we wrote before heading into the studio, and so it was a case of getting in there and working with Stevie to really make sure it slapped,” said SoSo’s frontman Rhys de Burgh. “Lyrically, it’s about that kinda ‘unknown’ of the music industry – trying to convince yourself that you’re doing something worthwhile that resonates with fans, all the while being overlooked by the industry. Watching a tonne of other acts get leg ups thanks to ‘knowing the right person’ can be a real kick in the teeth, having ‘friends’ in the scene suddenly drop all contact once you’re no longer useful and all that typical music industry stuff. So in the end, ‘Candy Mouth’ came to be this song kinda calling out and having a laugh at those people who’ve used their ‘Candy Mouth’ to climb the ladder of success, whilst dealing with some of the fun and frustration of trying to ‘make it’ whilst being overlooked.”
If you want to see a fairytale ending for these musical underdogs, pre-order So Much for Second Chances and help SoSo make their dreams of a number one album come true.
I try to never judge a book by its cover, but occasionally I’m guilty of judging a musical act by their name. Listening to American act Rainbow Kitten Surprise today I was reminded why that can be a bad move. I expected them to be an over-the-top grating cutesy pop act, but they’re actually a really cool, genre-bending alternative act. I was hooked from the first listen of their latest single “Dang” which took me down a Spotify rabbit hole that I’m not in a hurry to get out of.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise have been earning rave reviews for their Thanks For Coming tour, which South Florida Insider called “a masterful display of live music—raw, unpredictable, and utterly unforgettable.” Aussies will get a chance to experience their on-stage energy when Rainbow Kitten Surprise play headlining shows and support Ocean Alley along the East Coast next year.
The weekend is upon us so I figured it was time for some feel-good music. “Blue Skies,” the latest single from three-time QLD Music Award finalist Sunny Luwe, certainly fits the bill. An anthem for moving on from a bad place with positivity, it’s infectiously joyous. So whether you’re feeling those weekend vibes or need a pick-me-up, I know this one will have you smiling.
Sunny said that “Blues Skies” was inspired by the burnout she felt after releasing her debut album. “I realised I had started chasing external gratification from likes, streams, validation, rather than staying connected to why I create music in the first place,” she explained.
“Blues Skies” comes from Sunny’s next album Feeling Good, which we’ll hear on October 10. She’s got plenty of free gigs coming up which might just give you a chance to hear some more new material. Catch her at the following venues this month.
8 August 2025 – Beach Hotel, Bundjalung Country/Byron Bay (from 8 pm) 9 August 2025 – Distillery Road Market, Yuggera Country/Eagleby (from 6 pm) 10 August 2025 – QPAC for Clancestry, Meeanjin/Brisbane (from 5 pm – with Keely and Birren) 17 August 2025 – The Triffid, Meeanjin/Brisbane (from 3 pm – with Hazel Mei) 24 August 2025 – Chevron Island Street Party, Kurrungul/Surfers Paradise (from 2 pm)
Today acclaimed Wonnarua Country/Hunter Valley-based singer-songwriter Melody Pool releases her gorgeous third album Our Eternal Garden. Coming nine years after her last, this stunning psychedelic-folk album sees Melody channelling her grief, trust, and curiosity into songs that build on her sound and take it in new directions. I caught up with Melody to chat about this beautiful new album, how she feels making music after an extended hiatus, and her exciting touring news.
You’re releasing your new album Our Eternal Garden today. What can you tell me about it?
I guess mainly that I’m extremely proud of it. I wrote a lot of the songs when there were heaps of life changes happening for me, my dad getting sick etc. It was an exercise in surrendering to grief really and trying to redirect my approach to pain and existential dread by working with it rather than pushing up against it.
This is actually your first album release since Deep Dark Savage Heart in 2016. You were really honest about needing to step back from your music career and prioritise your mental health not long after you released that album. How does it feel to be making music again after that time away?
That break was exactly what I needed to be able to get back into music. I was really lost beforehand and so disconnected to why I was doing it. Those years helped me realign with the ‘why’, and I fell back in love with creating, and problem solving and challenging myself musically which is what I’d lost. So, rather than it just feeling good, it actually just feels right now.
The press release says this album is “a bold expansion of her sonic and lyrical world.” How would you say that your music evolved between this album and Deep Dark Savage Heart?
I’d say it’s wildly different haha. I don’t know, I hear DDSH now and I just hear a lost little girl who let others listen and decide things for her, who didn’t value her own opinion or taste. I feel like the sound has really been formed into something that reflects me now, and lyrically/musically it’s just far more realised. But that’s just my opinion lol.
You recorded Our Eternal Garden entirely to tape, which is such an old-school way of doing things. What influenced that decision?
There is a record by Linda Perhacs called Paralellograms that I adore, and I’d said to Chris [Dale] (my producer, who’s also my partner), that I was obsessed with that vocal sound and the density and warmth of it and he was like “Maybe we should just go to Golden Retriever and record to tape,” so we did. There wasn’t some huge determined decision really, it kind of just worked out that way and became something we just said “Yeah, let’s try that” to.
As a music buff, I was really impressed to read that the album’s photos were shot by Henry Diltz, who has photographed music legends like The Doors and Joni Mitchell. How did you get him on board?
Through a publicist I was working with at the time. It was such a beautiful experience getting to share some time with Henry, and he gifted me a beautiful print of Joni he had signed at the end of it. He is a really beautiful man with a very special spirit. I feel so lucky to have gotten to chance to spend some time with him and hear his stories.
You’ve actually been compared to Joni and Leonard Cohen. What is it like to hear those sorts of comparisons?
In some ways you just shrug it off because they’re the greats, you know? It feels like, yeah right. I wish. Haha. In others, it kind of makes sense. They’re huge influences for me, I’ve spent years absorbing and pondering on their songs and whatever you expose yourself to, you tend to lean toward when you start creating for yourself.
You’ll be playing some international shows to support the release of Our Eternal Garden. Where can fans expect to see you?
I’m kind of bouncing all over the UK, and then heading to Germany. So I’ll be in Ayr, Scotland, London and surrounds, Bristol, Staffordshire, Yorkshire. I have always wanted to spend a lot more time in the UK as I have heaps of family there so I’m very excited for that. And then we’re doing some shows in Germany around Frankfurt, Bremen, some smaller towns like Eisenach and Lübeck and Dedesdorf, a few that I visited last year and LOVED. So excited to head back there too.
I assume Australia will always be part of those plans. Do you know yet when you’ll play locally?
Yes! Through October and November we’re doing a little city run which will include Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and then my hometown show in Newcastle, and we have a little gig regionally in Grenfell as well.
What can music lovers expect from your upcoming shows?
A lot of heart, emotion as allllways with me. Also I’m from regional NSW so a fair bit of gasbagging too haha
Have you got a message for your fans out there?
Love ya’s. Come see a show. Always love to hug a fan x
Our Eternal Garden is out now on all your favourite streaming services. You can also purchase a vinyl copy through Melody’s Bandcamp page. She’s also just announced her world tour dates, so make sure you see her anywhere you can.
The gloomy weather we’re having has left me a bit flat. I’ve looked to new music today to wake me up but nothing was quiet scratching that itch until I discovered “The Mill,” the new single from greater Naarm/Melbourne act Saint Victoire. This energetic folk song has a bit of a Maggie Rogers, Angie McMahon vibe, so if you’re into those artists I know you’re going to love it.
“Writing ‘The Mill’ was actually quite a bizarre experience,” reflected Saint Victoire’s frontwoman Heidi Waddell. “I was having a dream that I was performing the song to a big room of people, and somewhere in the dream, I realised I was dreaming. I woke myself up and quickly wrote down everything I could remember. The way I’ve interpreted the song—because it doesn’t even feel like I really wrote it, more like it was given to me to sing—I think I must have been processing my exhaustion in my sleep, and my frustrations about this system I feel caught up in that sends me a bit crazy. So I guess it just came out to this dream audience.
“I feel the weight of the expectations we put on ourselves to constantly produce, to try and fit into a mould that society deems ‘acceptable’—and even then, we’re told our best effort isn’t enough, as if what we do is where our value lies. This song is about acknowledging all of that and saying, ‘I won’t take it all on me. Don’t take it all on you.’ Just don’t give those ideas power anymore.”
If you’re digging “The Mill” as much as I am, the good news is there’s more fresh music from Saint Victoire around the corner. They’ll release their sophomore EP I Once Loved You, Summer on August 7.
