Australia's latest pop sensation, TAMMA (aka Tammy Martin), has burst onto the music scene with her debut single and ultimate summer anthem, 'Beat You Down'. Sparkling guitars, killer vocals and infectious pop percussion make this song the ultimate feel-good tune and one worthy of any Summer roadtrip playlist!
Inspired by vulnerability and hardship, 'Beat You Down' was written after the tragic and sudden lost of TAMMA's young nephew Buddy in 2016. TAMMA offers insight into the deeply personal inspiration behind the track, saying, “As I was writing Beat You Down, I thought about my family and the hard stuff we have faced in recent years. I’ve had vocal surgery twice – however, losing my voice and identity seemed trivial after the tragic and sudden loss of my nephew Buddy in 2016. The loss threw me into an unknown and scary place, as I realised how quickly life can change and turn on you. Suddenly my main priority in life was to get my sister, family and myself through the grief and confusion.” She continues, “Music is my healer and I wanted to write something to make them feel uplifted – the way music does for me." 'Beat You Down' is out now via True Music, and available on all major streaming services. Take a listen below and let us know what you think! Also make sure you check out the accompanying sun-soaked video clip directed by Damien Blue.
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With just over a month left before our favourite UK indie-rockers (and adopted Australians), The Wombats, arrive on our shores for their headline tour and a bunch of festival appearances, we caught up with drummer Dan Haggis to chat about the bands latest album, why they love Australia so much and his mum's first time on stage in a wombat costume!
Hey Dan, how are you going? Yeah good thanks, just enjoying my morning chatting away to people. It’s a great way to start the day! You guys dropped your new single ‘Bee-Sting’ a few weeks ago. What has the reaction been like so far? Yeah, it’s been great. We haven’t actually played the song live yet, so we haven’t physically seen a reaction. But obviously nowadays with social media and stuff -- we troll some of the comments on our posts and see what people’s vibes are and so far, it’s all been really positive. My mum likes it as well, so that’s a good time! Speaking of your mum... I saw a video on twitter of her dancing on stage at one of our shows, in a wombat costume. Is that something she does often? Haha no it was the first time! She’d never actually been on tour before. Like she’d been to gigs but never spent time on tour, so I was like “Mum you’ve gotta come and have a few days on tour” and she was like “ooh I dunno if I’ll get sleep” and I was like “you’ll be fine!” Anyway, eventually I managed to persuade her, so her and her husband came to a few shows in Europe and one of the nights I was like “Right, mum, you and your fella are getting dressed up in wombat costumes” and she was like “Oooh yes!” and like she’s nuts, she absolutely loved it! And her husband is actually one of the most eccentric dancers. One of the best. One of my favourite dancers of all time, to be honest! Well better than Michael Jackson. He’s unbelievable. Yeah and honestly, we were playing ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ and when mum came on stage — obviously I could see by the size who was who — she was just going for it! Oh man, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t play. Do you get fans in the crowd come up on stage as well? Yeah, a couple of times we’ve done competitions and the winners would get on stage in the costumes. Often, if we’ve got a friend or family in a city, then they wanna do it. They always text us like “can we do the wombat costumes!?” and also for a lot of people to actually see what it’s like to be on stage, that’s the main thing people love. It’s like “fuck I’ve never really been on stage in front of that many people” you know, they always get such a buzz from it. Often when there’s not anyone there to do it, I just say to our tour manager “can we just go out and get some people?” and he’s all like “health and safety! I’m gonna have to brief them!” So sometimes it depends on the venue, you know they’re not as open to it if you don’t know the people, but I always just lie and say that we know who they are! [laughs] You released your fourth studio album, ‘Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life’, earlier this year – What was the inspiration behind this album? Yeah so as the title suggests I guess, especially for Murph as he often has drama in his love life, I think he tried to get to the bottom of what was going on with it all. Song writing is obviously a kind of therapy and a way to get some understanding of what’s going on. I think it’s just really about how hurt you can be by the people that are closest to you, whether that’s your mother, father, brother, boyfriend or girlfriend.
Tired of your current playlists and In need of some new tunes? Luckily we've rounded up some of our favourite releases this month, from both Australian and international artists and put together a bangin' playlist for you!
New Zealand's Broods dropped the glimmering electro-pop tune 'Peach', the duos first solo release since their sophomore album 'Conscience' in 2016. Sydney four-piece Erthlings sprung onto the scene with their super catchy debut single 'Bridges', whilst E^ST brought us 'I Don't Lack Imagination', a super relateable banger about shitty first dates. Other artists included in the playlist include Wafia, KIAN, Essie Holt, ALTA, I Know Leopard, Eves Karydas, Kiiara, RUFUS DU SOL, Akine, Paces, Phantastic Ferniture, Olympia, LAUREL and The Delta Riggs. Check out the full playlist below or listen on Spotify.
Netherlands-born, Brisbane-based electro-pop musician Wafia has been on the music scene since 2014 but 2018 is turning out to be her biggest year yet! The 25 year old vocalist and songwriter recently dropped her infectiously unapologetic new single, ‘I’m Good’ and it's an absolute tuuuuune! Co-written by Wrabel (Ellie Goulding, Adam Lambert) and produced by Grammy nominated writer John Hill (Portugal. the Man, Foster The People) and Roget Chahayed, the track is the ultimate 'fuck you, I'm over you' break-up anthem. Wafia says of the song, “At the time I could foresee heartbreak that I was going to have to work through and I wanted to write the song that I’d want to hear at the end of it all.”
Her sophomore solo EP 'VIII' was released in January this year via Future Classic and features the critically-acclaimed singles ‘Only Love’, '83 Days' and ‘Bodies’, which have been streamed over 15 million times online. The bold singer-songwriter has also made international waves recently after lending her angelic vocals to Louis the Child's smash hit ‘Better Not’ and joining the duo to perform the song during their sets at Coachella earlier in the year. Wafia will embark on her I’m Good World Tour this October, beginning in Australia. You can find dates and details for all shows here. Have a listen of 'I'm Good' below and let you know what you think!
Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Jess Holt aka Essie Holt has just dropped her new single ‘Better For You’ and it's that good, we've already played it about 15 times today.
Produced by Mark Zito (Fractures) and mixed by Dave Hammer (Nicole Millar, Thundamentals), 'Better For You' is an infectious electronic indie-pop tune featuring glimmering walls of synth, subtle yet apt percussion and emotively-driven vocals. A worthy follow up to her previously released singles 'Magnetise' and 'Underwater, 'Better For You' is yet another reason to be excited about her debut EP which is set to be released early next year. To celebrate the release of 'Better For You', Essie will set out on August 9th to support LANKS on ten shows of his ‘twentyseven’ album tour, before headlining performances in September at Brighton Up Bar, Sydney and The Workers Club, Melbourne. More details can be found here. 'Better For You' is now available worldwide on all major streaming services. Have listen below and let us know what you think!
Brisbane singer/songwriter Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, has completely knocked our socks off with her recently released debut EP 'Sugar & Spice'. Consisting of four previously released singles and one additional track, 'Sugar & Spice' is undeniably catchy with its ethereal pop melodies, fuzzy shoe-gaze guitars and clever lyrics. Unlike anything else on the charts at the moment, Hatchie's unique sound is a breath of fresh air in the Australian music scene right now.
All five tracks focus heavily on love and romance; whether it be falling in love for the first time, having your heart broken or the torment of an on-again-off-again relationship. "These songs were written more for myself than for a specific project, in an effort to explore feelings of vulnerability and ecstasy I had previously suppressed," she says on the EP. "I wanted them to sound lush, sparkly, and recreate euphoric feelings I experienced falling in love for the first time. They were all written without much thought or pressure from myself or anyone else, allowing me to lay my feelings out like I’ve never done before." Aside from dropping her debut EP, the last 12 months have been a whirlwind adventure for this talented 25-year-old. Since dropping her debut single 'Try' in May last year, she has gone on to play a bunch of international shows and festivals such as SXSW and The Great Escape, support the DMA's national album tour in June, as well as sell-out all three shows on her Australian headline tour earlier this month. If that isn't impressive enough, Hatchie is also heading overseas next month for her USA tour as well as a couple of shows in London and Paris. Info and tickets available at hatchie.net Sugar & Spice is out now via Ivy League Records. Have a listen below and let us know what you think!
Canadian singer-songwriter RALPH (Raffaela Weyman) has just dropped her new single 'Tables Have Turned' and boy, are we in love!
A blend of retro pop synths, soft guitar and oh-so-relatable lyrics about love, 'Tables Have Turned' see's RALPH contemplate blossoming romance and how easily it changes from beginning to end. 'Tables Have Turned' is the third single RALPH has released within the last five months, following her collaboration with fellow Toronto musician and rapper TOBi on 'Girl Next Door' and the release of the lead single 'September Fades' from her upcoming debut album. Have a listen to 'Tables Have Turned' below and check out her other tracks here.
Brisbane's favourite indie rockers, Last Dinosaurs, recently released their long awaited second album ‘Wellness’ via Dew Process/UMA and we're more than impressed! Three years in the making, 'Wellness' is a shimmering slice of indie guitar-pop, choc full of summery beats, infectious guitar riffs and Sean Caskey''s signature melancholic vocals. The current single ‘Apollo’ as well as the previously released single ‘Evie’, have both received additions to the triple j playlist as well as accumulating over 11.6 million streams online.
To celebrate the arrival of the new record, the four piece are gearing up to hit the road for their triple j supported national ‘Wellness’ album tour. The tour will see the band travel across six states to headline some of the biggest venues of their career, including The Enmore Theatre in Sydney. The ‘Wellness’ 2015 Australian tour begins September 25th with tickets selling like hot cakes! Dates and ticket info can be found here. 'Wellness’ is available now in stores as well as online via iTunes and Spotify.
Today we're excited to bring you the exclusive premiere from Brisbane's alt-pop singer/songwriter Meredith. Her latest single, 'Levels' explores the struggle of letting other people "in" and follows the success of her 2014 debut single 'Jumpin Beds' which is still enjoying frequent spins on triple j Unearthed.
'Levels' is awash with smooth-as-velvet vocals and sweeping chimes, and sees Meredith at her most vulnerable. After a self-described "transformative process", suddenly the art she was creating - which had always been authentic - reached a new level of honesty. This first taste of her upcoming EP is impossible to ignore and stays with you for days after first listen. It's just a glimpse of what the alt-pop ingenue is gearing up to unleash on the world in the coming months: live shows and a video for the song are next on the horizon, with the EP release scheduled for early 2016. Written by Meredith herself and recorded by Steve Thornely at The Palace Studios, 'Levels' is an auditory exercise in introspection and a track that we could gladly listen to again and again. We suggest you sit back, get comfy and prepare to be entranced. Stay up to date with Meredith's antics via her Facebook and Instagram accounts. With only one single to her name, nineteen year-old Kita Alexander is already well on her way to blowing up the Australian music scene.
Born in Brisbane and raised in Port Macquarie, Kita developed an early love for music and started singing and playing the guitar when she was just 8 years old. Inspired by the rockers of the 80's, Kita cites Tom Petty, Rodriguez, Patti Smith, Lou Reed and Joe Cocker as some of her early influences. After leaving high school and deciding to pursue music as a career, Kita started travelling and playing gigs between Brisbane and Sydney as well as landing herself a manager, Tim Manton (Angus & Julia stone), who now looks after her alongside US agency, TAP Management (Lana Del Rey). Since dropping the video for her debut track "My Own Way" on YouTube last May, Kita has spent the last several months writing with the likes of Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun as well as writer/producers involved with Sia and M83. Something tells us we'll be seeing a lot more of this dreamy indie-pop songstress in the future! You can check out Kita's debut single 'My Own Way' online here as well as follow her crazy ride on instagram here. |
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