Music

The Yours & Owls Festival is just around the corner, with Wollongong set to host a whole slew of fiery Australian and international bands over an unforgettable weekend. Don’t be mistaken here, though, once the live bands finish on stage, the crew behind Yours & Owls are keeping the party going at the Wollongong Tennis Club…

Filipino songwriter and pop artist Kiana Valenciano presents herself confidently on record. She’s been performing and releasing music for some time now and has been successfully building a profile for herself in her homeland of the Philippines, with a social media following exceeding 200,000. Sitting across from me in Singapore last week, though, Valenciano is polite and…

Alice Ivy‘s rise has continued to be peppered with brilliant sounds, the latest of which coming today in the form of “Be Friends”. The single is another impressive offering from producer and songwriter; rooted in sunshine-hit synth goodness, “Be Friends” captures some of the best energy we’ve heard from Alice Ivy on a track yet….

Melbourne music fans, take heed. Returning for its 12th year this November, the Age Music Victoria Awards are hitting 170 Russell for their lauded after party, sure to impress. I mean, with the likes of Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda, Gold Class and Cable Ties on board, it can’t fail. Co-presented by RRR 102.7FM and PBS 106.7FM, the official after…

Central Coast musician Jacob Borg dives deep into some emotional musical territory the likes of The National have well traversed with his new Berlin Bar Hounds single, “Heights”. Driven by steady percussion that builds alongside a swelling keys and guitar arrangement, “Heights” is presented as a lofty cut of indie rock music, but definitely centres itself and…

I don’t gotta dance, I make money move. So goes one of the most belted out lines on a hip hop track this year. Cardi B‘s “Bodak Yellow” quickly emerged as a frontrunner for Hip Hop Earworm of 2017, placing the Bronx native on the radars of industry and hip hop fans in the US and beyond….

Australian Music Week will be returning to Cronulla this November for three nights of epic live music throughout the town’s venues – with conferencing and various industry sessions peppered throughout each day, the event will be drawing hundreds upon hundreds down to this corner of NSW for some unmissable opportunities both on stage and off. This…

MANE has continued to flourish – the young singer and songwriter from Adelaide has been catapulted from the local gig circuit on to stages through the UK and Europe this year, solidifying her status as one to watch. We’ve been enjoying MANE’s stuff since the House of Horror EP brought her to wider attention but in her newest…

On a sweaty final day of Music Matters Live in Singapore, I take refuge from the tropical heat at Apple Music hub, CHIJMES. Inside the El Mero Mero restaurant, breakthrough popstar Theia is finishing an interview. Her team sits with me until she is ready, eventually being brought through to our little corner of the venue. For…

Following an immense evening at The Corner, Weekender Fest round two eased itself in, solo sets from Hanny J and Bec Stevens serenading the hangover away at The Old Bar. Loobs and Paper Thin started to pick up the pace, as the crowd dispersed between The Old Bar and The Evelyn Hotel. Again, the Weekender…

It can’t be easy when you’ve been around as long as the Foo Fighters, both collectively and as the myriad of musical permutations of the individuals within the band, to come up with an album that sounds fresh and exciting but Concrete and Gold, the latest offering by the Foos, is just that. From the moment…

2017 has seen the return of talented songwriter Liv Cartledge; “You Got Me High” marked the Telstra Road to Discovery winner’s first release of music since 2015 and on current tune “Heard Your Name”, Cartledge has continued to impress. Her vocal quality positions her alongside the Katy Steeles and the Emily Lubitzes; indie folk fragility balanced…

The swell of support surrounding Adelaide producer and vocalist Lonelyspeck this year has simply been testament to the amount of potential one Sione Teumohenga has continued to display since 2014’s Presence EP. Since aligning with the TEEF Records crew late last year, Lonelyspeck has curried the favour of blogs, radio and industry across the board, with their 2017 EP Lave…

A long time AU favourite, Fanny Lumsden stopped by AU HQ in Sydney recently with hubby Dan Stanley Freeman for a bit of a chat and a special live performance for the AU Sessions series. With a brand new album in Real Class Act being released on September 22nd, Lumsden has been hitting the promo trail hard; the…

A BIGSOUND heavy hitter this year, Carmouflage Rose is continuing to stride forward in announcing a new tour off the back of his popular hit, “Late Nights”. The song also has a music video too; directed by Kevin Barr, the clip comes soaked in style and neon lights as Carmouflage Rose digs into to those house party vibes. Check…

It feels like only yesterday I was talking to Australian country-pop, singer/songwriter Casey Barnes about his latest release – but here we are again. His latest single, the catchy “Keep Me Coming Back” was written with MSquared Productions’ Michael Payter and Michael Delorenza; the team behind his two previous hit singles – “Just Like Magic”…

Far from the days of Lauryn Hill, women are more represented in rap than ever. In some ways that’s a good thing, but unfortunately there’s a lot of undeserved stigma surrounding a large portion of the female artists of the genre. If there was going to be an artist who can break past the stigma…

Ásgeir takes us back to his homeland for the music video for “I Know You Know”. The tune, taken from his acclaimed Afterglow album, shows Ásgeir at his melodic and musical best. As part of the wider Afterglow picture, “I Know You Know” is a gorgeous example of the Icelandic musician’s continued foray into melodic melancholia that is…

Their first time overseas performing together, Melbourne indie group Swim Season set their sights on Singapore’s Music Matters Live a few weeks ago. Taking their upbeat music out to Singapore, Swim Season became one of the most talked about Australian acts of the live music showcase series. The band presents this special little tour video for us,…

The first Bluesfest announcement dropped today, with some impressive names from Australia and abroad named as being Byron Bay bound next Easter. Leading the roster is Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, while the likes of Lionel Richie, Tash Sultana, The John Butler Trio and more all set to appear. Bluesfest will once again be taking place at the Tyagarah…

This afternoon, Ziggy Ramo announced his signing with Village Sounds, along with the announcement that he is to be joining the likes of The Shins, Cashmere Cat and Alt J at Perth’s Fidelity Festival. Taking things back to Brisbane at BIGSOUND, the young lyricist and performer sat down with us to share more of his story and…

Earlier this year, 2004 Australian Idol winner, Casey Donovan survived the jungle in I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! Now she’s released her crowd-funded EP, Off the Grid & Somewhere in Between and its singles “Lonely” (her first in seven years) and “The Villain”, and is later set to tour this October.

Poison City Weekender surfaces each year in the wake of BIGSOUND – Melbourne nonchalantly shrugging its shoulders and reminding Australia of why it’s the music capital. The first night of this year’s PCW was exactly that; an evening of some of Melbourne’s finest coolly sharing the stage with international acts, shrugging their shoulders and showing…

In the week that was, we were spoilt for choice with a bunch of new music releases. With our weekly Spotify playlist, you can wrap your ears around the charming new one from Julia Jacklin, a sultry pop number from Wallace and a spicy collab between Hanne Hukkelberg and Emilie Nicolas (plus heaps more)! ———-…

After a total of five showcase events across this year’s BIGSOUND it’s safe to say Jesswar more than proved her worth. Ferocious on the mic with a penchant for witty lyricism, the young Brisbane emcee dominated discussions on the “next big thing” in Australia’s hip hop scene, and with all that hype and excitement lifting…

The Ruminaters returned recently with a rollicking new single in “I Wanna Fight” – embracing the anarchistic nature of rock and roll, the band have approached the accompanying music video with the same central idea in mind. Popping a GoPro on their mate Dylan and letting the chaos ensue, The Ruminaters’ new clip is hazy,…

A huge sound from Grace Mitchell comes in the form of “French Becky”, her latest single. The Portland native has lunged forward from the downtempo Banks-like music she first became synonymous with back in 2015 in favour of some glorious, jittering pop vibes – neither reign supreme over the other in our minds, she does both…

Germany’s Rolling Stone has compared Luke Elliot to some of the greatest sonic storytellers of our time and it’s easy to see why when you listen to his debut album Dressed For The Occasion. Recorded in Norway by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile), it has a real spaghetti western country feel. We…

The final Queenscliff Music Festival line up has been revealed, capping off what has been a solid list of artists announced so far. Featured on this line up announcement are a bunch of Australians who have enjoyed successful 2017’s so far and will no doubt impress up at the festival this November. Russell Morris, Didirri, Yirrmal and The Refuge…

I don’t think there was any artist at BIGSOUND this year as excited as Baker Boy. The young Yolngu rapper from the Top End only started recording music last year and has already pushed through in a big way. Just a few months ago the skilled rapper, dancer, actor and artist managed to win the…