Sampa the Great, Paul Kelly and Genesis Owusu: Australia’s Best New Music for August | Music

Violent Soho – Kamikaze

For fans of: Grinspoon, The Howling Trees, Dinosaur Jr.

Grunge Mansfield’s Guardians of the Flame have announced an indefinite hiatus, which is the rock that speaks of early retirement, a slumber that can only be stirred with promises of sold-out stadiums and expanded anniversary reissues. far, far into the not-so-distant 2030s. By way of signature, Kamikaze is a perfect amalgamation of everything that makes the band so beloved: a spider guitar part that echoes Covered In Chrome, a quiet/loud dynamic, a muffled face-melting riff, and a chorus who screams in your face and makes you scream back. After 20 years of smelly vans and sweaty fans, Violent Soho says they’ve evolved somewhat from their early years. Musically, however, they remain on exactly the same setting – the quality and volume of their passionate tunes being firmly anchored at 11. It has been a great ride.

For more: Violent Soho are playing their last show on September 10 at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, with DZ Deathrays.

Paul Kelly – Northern Rivers

For fans of: Archie Roach, Don Walker, Perry Keyes

Paul Kelly wrote his deceptively flippant new single Northern Rivers late last year and describes it as “a love song set in contrasting landscapes”. Since then, the region has been decimated twice by floods. Images of recovery continue to beam through our living rooms, and Kelly’s song, an ode to a woman who “can tell the coming time in her bones, body and blood” has become more poignant. It’s a song about nature in its wildest form.

Kelly wouldn’t be the first to liken an unknown woman to a storm; in fact, storms and waterways feature so prominently in his work that Northern Rivers acts as the lead single from a new compilation that scours his storied career for songs that tackle aquatic themes. Sonically, this song sounds a lot like Kelly’s 90s release; sang warmly, produced crisply and with one ear locked to the FM dial.

For more: Rivers and Rain is out now and follows the similarly themed Time collection.

Alannah Russack’s Entropy Band – Movement

For fans of: Aerial Maps, Clouds, Hummingbirds

As a key member of the independent stalwarts of the Hummingbirds, Alannah Russack has contributed more than her fair share of earworms to the Australian musical canon over the years. As the best fuzzy pop from this aforementioned group, Movement hits the spot instantly. There’s a dizzying rush of Hammond organ, crisp guitars and wordless harmonies that crash through the speakers before fading away in favor of Russack’s unmistakable voice, which still sounds as fresh and inviting as ever. . All the pop dynamism belies the serious subject matter of Movement, written about a friend who died of motor neuron disease, and the hopeless acceptance one is forced to achieve in the face of such a cruel fate. Another great mid-career song from Russack.

For more: Listen to previous single Tend Your Fire and Places You Love.

Kasey Chambers – Get Lost

For fans of: Peter, Paul and Mary, Janis Joplin, the real Slim Shady

One of the most unlikely upsides of the recent pandemic was that it gave Kasey Chambers ample downtime to perfect his long-delayed banjo cover of Eminem’s hype-up anthem Lose Yourself. She recently gave the public this highlight, now deeming it appropriate to release this imposing eight-minute version recorded at Newcastle’s highly decorated Civil Theater as a single. While on the surface it reeks of mere novelty, only to laugh it off and then move on, Chambers instead treats the source material like gospel, moving from 60s folk reading to barn-scorching blues.

As she belts out “success is my only fucking option, failure isn’t” after six and a half minutes, you feel ready to go 10 rounds with Apollo Creed. With all of its talk of growing old in Salem’s Lot and paying the Pied Piper, the lyrics actually translate well to Chambers’ Southern Gothic reading. It’s a testament to the power of a perfectly performed cover.

For more: Chambers plays the Gympie Music Muster from August 25-28.

Richard Cartwright – Seaweed

For fans of: Brian Eno, The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd

As the frontman of psychedelic wanderers Richard In Your Mind, a band that goes from peyote-infused ragas to VHS-looting beats in the span of a single album, you’d think Richard Cartright would have a wide outlet for his experimentation. musical. But on her first solo album, Daisy Lion, Cartwright finds other sonic avenues to wander. This is immediately apparent on lead single Seaweed, a scintillating slice of nautical nonsense that was originally written and rejected for a SpongeBob SquarePants movie. Unsurprisingly, given this cinematic record, this song floats in endless bliss, halfway between Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robot and the most progressive Pink Floyd jam. As 1970s synths chirp harmlessly and Cartwright’s washed-out falsetto drags the sweetest melody to the surface, you could do worse than close your eyes and drift downstream.

For more: Daisy Lion is now available.

Workhorse – Darkness

For fans of: Julee Cruise, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive

While fans of the aforementioned bands will have already prepared this song to play, those less smitten by a dreamy, endlessly reverberant vocal and terse tremolo guitars will still find plenty to love about the South Australian multi-instrumentalist’s Workhorse project. Harriet Fraser-Barbour. A truly breathtaking piece of music, Darkness moves away from the dystopian American dreamscapes of David Lynch, often imitated by the likes of Lana Del Rey. Rather, it’s a real mood track that could be right at home between My Bloody Valentine and Enya on a new age Pure Moods compilation.

For more: The debut album No Photographs is due out August 12.

Genesis Owusu – GTFO

For fans of: David Bowie, Childish Gambino, Anderson .Paak

A lot has happened since Genesis Owusu released their debut album Smiling With No Teeth last March. Four Aria Awards, Triple J’s Album of the Year, European tours, a rousing debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a nod from President Obama, which included album highlight Gold Chains into his favorite music of 2021 list. It’s fair to say there’s a lot to be said for the success of the GTFO single’s comeback, and unsurprisingly, Owusu hit another home run.

Opening with a spooky, muffled gospel chorus, Owusu skips syllables on top of a dreamy musical bed before the song breaks down into a stomping, singing chorus of “Get The Fuck Out” quite in tune. contradiction with the rest of the melody. Sounding like the bastard child of Marc Bolan and Tricky, it’s a dense but beautiful listen.

For more: Owusu support Tame Impala on their Australian tour throughout October, before playing Spilled Milk, Lost Paradise and Falls Festival.

Hockey Dad – T’s To Cross

For fans of: Crowded house, Jebediah, you follow me

As long as there is a 9 to 5 culture, there will be songs lamenting the silent desperation of the rat race, the coffee swallowed, the train catching the trouble of earning a bite. Three albums later, Wollongong’s Hockey Dad isn’t so far removed from that way of life that it can’t conjure up the perfect anthem for this pointless daily grind. As the band matures they seem to be leaning more towards writing classic Aussie songs, echoing the Woodface Crowded House era and You Am I golden age with this wonderful ode to that “Is that right?” feeling. As many of us return to the skyscrapers of the city, to wither away behind ever-changing computers, this song takes on a particularly urgent significance.

For more: Hockey Dad plays at This That festival in Brisbane on October 29 and Newcastle on November 5.

Buoys – Red Flags

For fans of: Jimmy Eat World, Lit, Hayley Mary

I sincerely hope that when Zoe Catterall sings “you’re bathing in your own trash” at the start of The Buoys’ incendiary new single, Red Flags, it’s a metaphor for how a lover is the architect of their own downfall. , not a disturbing sign. of poor hygiene. Whatever the case, Catterall sees the red flags all too well, but chooses to postpone any decisive action. Musically, Red Flags is sweet pop punk, clean-as-a-whistle production, tighter than a Swiss watch, with melodic guitar lines weaving through any remnant of sonic space. A tambourine lights up the chorus as Catterall’s voice soars in concert, and we have yet another winner from one of Sydney’s most dynamic punk bands.

For more: Listen to the 2021 EP, Unsolicited Advice for Your DIY Disaster.

Sampa The Great – Bona

For fans of: Yeezus-era Kanye, Jamila Woods, REMI

Sampa The Great’s Energy 2018 banger was on President Obama’s recent summer playlist alongside the likes of Miles Davis, Joe Cocker and Beyoncé. It’s the perfect summertime anthem, a bouncy, horn-driven bombshell for summer times. In Australia, however, it is winter. Sampa’s new single, Bona, is a claustrophobic club tune, with a stalking bassline, breathless percussion and creeping vocal harmonies. Even if Barack doesn’t rush this track, it’s a much more accomplished creation than Energy – and while there’s no point in making such comparisons, at this rate Sampa might find she’s his only decent competition.

For more: The album As Above, So Below is released on September 9.