| Catalano - Others Pop | 22/02/2019 |
Catalano - Izzy Mellor (Shifting Sands, Jeremy Neale, Love Signs) & Ruby McGregor (Babaganouj, Lexicon, Go Violets) - are best friends who make quintessential Brisbane indie pop.
Premiering via CONTROL Zine, Others (produced by Cub Sport's Zoe Davis) is a late night D&M of an introduction to the duo that blossoms slowly and purposefully. Accompanied by iridescent, wistful visuals by Somersault Visuals, 'Others' treads the fine line between intimacy and loneliness in the earliest hours of the morning, finding that they're often the same thing.
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| Demon Days - Daria's Smile Funk/Soul, Electronic, Jazz | 15/02/2019 |
Neo-soul collective & "the talk of the Perth music scene" (Cool Perth Nights). Their 2018 debut Magic Eye was crowned Best EP at the 2018 WAM Awards.
Premiering via Frankie Magazine, Daria's Smile is a "melodic flex" (Red Bull) from the band. Penned on tour by Bella Nicholls after re-reading Naomi Wolf's ‘The Beauty Myth’ (1990), punchy lyrics explore how beauty is used against women: there's no mistaking this track's bite amongst the glossy synths, syncopated bass and dynamic drums.
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| Keeskea - Forfeit Folk, Atmospheric, Electronic | 17/11/2018 |
Keeskea is the “lofty and delicate, yet fiercely present and potent” project of Brisbane solo artist Vanessa Marousopoulos who's shared stages with Stella Donnelly, Jen Cloher, Jen Buxton, and more.
A vulnerable reflection of a dark emotional state, 'Forfeit's tremendous, roaring sparsity is offset by Marousopoulos's heavenly vocal waft.
"I often thought about changing the lyrics. I feared it might be too heavy.
But if I [did], I might have cheated myself & anyone else who has been in that headspace. I don’t think it should be censored."
- Keeskea
"I often thought about changing the lyrics. I feared it might be too heavy.
But if I [did], I might have cheated myself & anyone else who has been in that headspace. I don’t think it should be censored."
- Keeskea
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| King IV - Basic Pop, Electronic, Drum 'n' Bass / Jungle | 31/10/2018 |
King IV makes hard-hitting industrial pop, described by media as "Australia's Grimes," "a razor-sharp pop hero" and "my go to.... whenever I wanna feel like a boss-ass b*tch".
Hatched in an APRA AMCOS SongHubs session between King IV, LUCIANBLOMKAMP & Josh Simons, Basic is a break-neck 2min19sec of ice cold attitude, showcasing a new masterful restraint from the artist without losing any of her trademark punch. Percussive layers whip around ferociously in the mix over booming 808 kick bass, held firmly down by King IV's imperious vocals.
| LÂLKA - CTRL ALTer ego Electronic, Pop | 26/10/2018 |
Compared to Charli XCX, "the love child of Yolandi Visser and SOPHIE" and "Björk with a sledgehammer", LÂLKA makes fiercely idiosyncratic pop with a fearless DIY approach.
Premiering with triple j Homed & Hosed, LÂLKA's "big, bright pop blast" is co-produced by LÂLKA herself with Paces & Haxx (Kult Kyss). Her shiniest release yet, 'CTRL ALTer ego' is a self-aware wink at modern escapism tinged with lollipop sweetness but, as triple j's Declan Byrne put it, "maybe the lollipop doesn't taste quite how you think it will."
| Rachel Maria Cox - Time Pop, Gay Alligned, Rock | 26/10/2018 |
Recently nominated by AWMA for the Diversity In Music award, non-binary singer songwriter/"professional feelings haver" Rachel Maria Cox & their band, based in Newcastle, make "sad pop for the masses".
Produced by Skyepaint, 'Time' is driven by a "think, indie-leading instrumental" (Pilerats) that allows Cox's crystalline vocals to take centre stage as they communicate a story that's “intimate, anecdotal and cuttingly relatable" (Howl & Echoes), and an anti-diet culture message that's sorely needed for anyone who has "lost too many years that I am never getting back".
| Your Girl Pho - I Can't Take It Funk/Soul, Pop, RnB, Electronic | 10/08/2018 |
Phoebe Gunson aka Perth's beloved magnetic persona Your Girl Pho sets the mood with warm, technicolour jazz-pop. Her "soulful vocals" (NYLON) punctuate RnB, neo-soul and electro-pop with fizzing, elasticated energy.
Pho's "soulful vocals" (NYLON) morph into full-tilt snarl, ripping through "p-funk bass sizzle, Sade synth pads and a g-funk e.p. groove" (FBi Radio) with reckless abandon. A self-asserting release inspired by pent-up frustrations at not being taken seriously - even at her own gigs - 'I Can't Take It' is what you wish you said each time someone underestimated you.
| Demon Days - Disco Baby Funk/Soul, Pop, Jazz, Electronic | 06/07/2018 |
"Talk of the Perth music scene" Demon Days' forthcoming EP is produced by Grammy-nominated engineer Nick Herrera, injecting their peppy neo-soul with galactic, fizzing energy ahead of national tour.
"A free flowing wonderland adventure. Close your eyes so you can leave all your worries behind and bliss out with Demon Days." - Declan Byrne, triple j Home & Hosed
Pulling bright, shiny elements from 90s pop, 80s synth tones & 70s disco, 'Disco Baby' nearly fizzes over with mentos-in-coke energy, propelled by punchy phrases and adorned with wonky flair.
Pulling bright, shiny elements from 90s pop, 80s synth tones & 70s disco, 'Disco Baby' nearly fizzes over with mentos-in-coke energy, propelled by punchy phrases and adorned with wonky flair.
| Aeora - Party All Night Pop, Electronic | 01/06/2018 |
Melbourne-based artist Aeora makes evocative pop music that combines the raw emotion of her country singer/songwriter background with pillowy, powerful production. Her latest EP will be released in July 2018.
Driven by a pulsing, understated beat and delivered with barely-restrained emotion, Party All Night is a low-key pop gem caught between compassion, frustration, and a desire to do just that.
| Telete - Like Honey Electronic, Pop, Atmospheric, Folk | 01/06/2018 |
"We use synths and strings and bad keyboard-generated percussion to make slightly wonky pop music. Maybe if dream pop and chamber pop had a very ugly baby?"
Telete's heartrending version of a lullaby, plush with warm, thick synths and triple-tracked strings: "There’s a strange comfort in saying an uncomfortable truth out loud: you take something you’ve internalised, a feeling that you carry in your stomach, chest and heart, and you push it all the way back out."
| Jacob Diamond - Mary & Augustine Folk | 23/05/2018 |
Award-winning alt-folk oddity Jacob Diamond's debut album Goodbye Gondwana is RTRFM's Local Feature Record ahead of its release on Friday 25 May and a national tour.
Markedly more syncopated than much of Diamond's work thanks to a meticulously synchronised hammering of pots, pans and mic stands by his entire band, the dynamic tune races to keep up with itself before heaving a sigh of relief, laying life's baggage to rest to enjoy love.
| KAIAR - Human Electronic, Atmospheric, Pop | 23/05/2018 |
Melbourne-based dream pop producer and self-described “chronic overthinker” KAIAR (formerly KAIA) rummages through layers of off-kilter beats and choppy vocal samples to find personal and objective truth.
An exploration of how to put "pressure in the right place" to "break" through our protective armour, 'Human' is true to its name - tense, real, beautiful. Dreamy synth pads glow dimly under choppy percussive layers, showering over KAIAR's increasingly fevered exaltations as she searches for genuine connection.
| Tangents - Lake George Electronic, Atmospheric, Experimental, Jazz | 23/05/2018 |
Sydney-based "post-everything" experimentalists who rummage through elements of sound found in jazz, electronica, rock and more.
"For four minutes, Tangents build a world teeming with quiet musical contemplation, all those colourful pieces hovering together just at the horizon, webbing around each other like clouds on an otherwise sunny day." - Pitchfork on 'Lake George'
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Will Backler, RTR FM, Perth (WA)
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Will Backler, RTR FM, Perth (WA)
| Tangents - Immersion (Katie Gately Remix) Electronic, Experimental, Industrial, Soundscapes | 27/04/2018 |
Sydney based, “Tangents artfully mix acoustic instruments and electronics... [combining] improvisation with careful processing. At their best, they bring to mind Can, Tortoise, Four Tet, and the Necks.”
– Pitchfork
Known for her "unsettling, dense soundscapes" and work with Nosaj Thing and Björk, Los Angeles-based producer Katie Gately has crafted a "Massive, near death, audio euphoria reworking" (the Quietus) of Immersion, a "a slow-building fusion of improvisation jazz and avant-rock" off Tangents' forthcoming LP New Bodies.
| LALKA - SHUT UP Electronic, Industrial, Pop | 13/04/2018 |
Crafting atmospheres that possess "the unsettling experimentalism of Fever Ray and the catchy rap immediacy of Die Antwoord", Brisbane's LALKA is unafraid to create lavish sounds with a radical edge.
Building to absolute chaos yet showing LALKA at her most in-control yet, SHUT UP (co-produced by LALKA and Haxx of Kult Kyss) harnesses pop as a weapon of defiance. Oscillating industrial synths, menacing hip-hop-influenced beats and syncopated vocals crash into each other at increasing speeds as LALKA's frustration grows.
| VAL FLYNN - Stuck On Repeat Pop, Dance, RnB, Indigenous | 13/04/2018 |
Butchulla artist VAL FLYNN weaves pop, dance, and RnB sensibilities together, recalling that turn-of-the-century golden age, but the emotion at the heart of his work is timeless.
Fit for a London day club, 'Stuck On Repeat' is an energetic dance number that knows the intrinsic value of pop: "[It] connects all of us. Regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status or race. It’s a space where we can forget our days, blast some beats and enjoy the night," - VF
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| Jamilla - Beautiful Funk/Soul, Pop, RnB, Chill | 10/04/2018 |
With an intense and captivating stage presence and emotive and politically charged lyrics, Perth-based nu-soul/RnB singer/producer Jamilla expresses her appreciation for human vulnerability and invites you to experience hers.
Rendered deceptively melancholic by its delicate vocal layers, beach soundscapes and wistful guitar, 'Beautiful' is the totally self-produced slinky manifesto of that powerful outer shell worn on new romantic encounters, taken to its emotionally destructive ends on a tide of percussive clicks and quivering assuredness.
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Will Backler, RTR FM, Perth (WA)
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Will Backler, RTR FM, Perth (WA)
| Terra Pines - Kidult Rock, Atmospheric, Pop, Grunge | 05/04/2018 |
Grungegaze/sludgepop trio (Kelly, Owen, Cameron) dealing in danceable noise and disassociation. Based out of Brisbane/Meanjin, Terra Pines (formerly Tall Pines) are gearing up to release their debut self-titled LP.
An ode to self-conscious post-punk of yesteryear, featuring jagged guitars, driving danceable beats and playful harmonies, highlighting the bands love of the pop craft. Bright, perky early-Cure hooks are reimagined through the bands' noise-geared internal filter, with Hanlon's meandering vocals contemplating a familiar inner disconnect through a distorted crescendo.
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Chris Cobcroft, 4ZZZ, Brisbane (QLD)
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Chris Cobcroft, 4ZZZ, Brisbane (QLD)
| Tangents - Terracotta (Radio Edit) Electronic, Experimental, Instrumental, Jazz | 29/03/2018 |
"Post-everything improv" Sydney-based quintet Tangents meld electronic production, experimental rock and free improvisation to praise from Pitchfork, FACT Magazine and more.
Terracotta embodies Tangents' inability to sit still, starting with Hollo’s pedal-mangled plucked cello, joined by a propulsive beat from Dorian. Underneath Ahmad's wobbly guitar, Lim-Klumpes drops in funky Rhodes chords, moving into full jazz-funk before it all breaks down. From beyond, Bown provides sharp edits and canny recontextualisations.
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Will Backler, RTR FM, Perth (WA)
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Will Backler, RTR FM, Perth (WA)
| Your Girl Pho - Feelen Electronic, RnB, Pop, Soul | 16/03/2018 |
Hailing from Perth, Your Girl Pho's jazz-pop sensibilities are wrapped in a roomy, elasticated package. On tour this month!
Produced by Demon Days' Joshua Chan, 'Feelen' is couched in warm, swirling synths, building to an ecstatic, mentos-in-coke release of tension and a blissful reconnection of self. That 'Feelen' is being yanked - mercifully, almost violently - out of a passionless rut by an accidental encounter, or a single moment.
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Aeron Clark, Edge, Hobart (TAS)
MUSIC DIRECTOR PICK: Aeron Clark, Edge, Hobart (TAS)
