ALEX HAMILTON SWEETEST WINE LOVE POLICE RECORDS + TAPES Alex Hamilton knows his way around high and lonesome folk-rock and on his debut solo album he reaches some wonderful high points that recall the keening, pastoral sound of Dylan, The Band and Neil Young. Hamilton used to be the songwriter and singer for Melbourne band … Continue reading
MYLEE GRACE WHIPLASH IN THE MOSHPIT LOVE POLICE RECORDS + TAPES One of the first batch of releases on the newly minted record label by Love Police, Mylee Grace returns to releasing music after relocating to the Northern Rivers region of NSW six years ago. Prior to that she’d released a solo EP in 2010 … Continue reading
Swedish songwriter Anders Jörnesten has one of those deep, sonorous, gravelly and lived-in voices. Words are like intonations, hanging heavy in the air and giving greater gravitas to his lyrics. ‘Light Up My Way’ is a stripped-back acoustic country-folk track of acoustic guitar, harmonia and that voice. Beautiful melancholia. Jörnesten only started writing songs during … Continue reading
THE FELICE BROTHERS FROM DREAMS TO DUST Yep Roc Records The upstate New York group, based around the brothers Ian and James Felice, have been consistently evolving their sound for 15 years now, across a brace of increasingly diverse albums that showcase the progression of main songwriter Ian’s songs, from early folk facsimiles to wildly … Continue reading
Pedal steel tears cascade across this new single from Canadian M.E. Netzke. ‘Fully Tickled Pink’ has a baroque folk feel, bringing to mind the likes of Ron Sexsmith and a more subtle and cosmically inclined Rufus Wainwright as it washes over you with its psychedelic drift. Supremely melancholic, it subtly touches on Brian Wilson-esque west … Continue reading
Erin Rae is currently on tour in Australia with Courtney Marie Andrews on what might be one of the very first international tours we’ve seen in the last two years. Rae has just released a beautiful new album, Lighten Up, that complements her sublime and nuanced songwriting with cosmic, lightly psychedelic and baroque folk sounds … Continue reading
Delicate and graceful finger-plucked acoustic guitar notes fill the air before the rich and warm resonance of Canadian Jenny Berkel‘s voice emerges from the melancholic swirl of her new single ‘You Think You’re The Rain‘. That low-key introduction segues beautifully into a full band sound with a strong rhythmic push and pull and cosmic folk-rock … Continue reading
Melbourne duo The Weeping Willows dive into the dark and moody world of bluesy folk, temptation and sin on the latest single from their forthcoming third album You Reap What You Sow. ‘House of Sin‘ features that honeyed ache of dual harmonies that Laura Coates and Andrew Wrigglesworth do so well. Andrew, as always, impresses … Continue reading
SOWING THE SEEDS OF SONGS Family Jordan continue to refine their humid and cosmic country and folk sound on their fourth album Big Grass. Ahead of their appearance at the Dashville Skyline festival next weekend (Feb 25-28th, 2022) we’re adding our interview with Jordan Rochfort of the band from last year. by Chris Familton Following in … Continue reading
The Redlands are cousins and childhood friends, Samuel Nairn (vocals), Chase Williams (lead guitar) Dean Williams (guitar/piano) and Ottavio Dichiera (bass). Formed in 2019, after years of playing live together around Mildura in north-east Victoria and taking their cues from songwriting giants like Dylan, Cave and Isbell. You can hear those influences and more winding … Continue reading
Australian expat, Tom Dockray, now based in Denmark, has joined musical forces with Rick Hauchman (North Carolina – vocals, mandolin, guitar) and friends (Lars Heiberg Andersen (drums, production), Mads Løvenholdt (bass), Thyge Van Dassen (violin) and Lars Emil Riis (piano)) to create Space Dudes. From the description it’s a fairly loose-knit approach where genre is out the … Continue reading
This track stopped me in my tracks when I heard it recently. Sparse and wracked with honesty and grim reality, Tyler Allgood reflects on the pain and experience of being homeless and addicted. The percussive tension of his guitar playing is a perfect match for the anguish in his voice and the disarming clarity of … Continue reading
It’s that time of year where I sit down, create a spreadsheet, list all the albums that caught my ear and had me returning for repeat listens, and then begin the torturous task of putting them into some kind of ordered list. It’s a strange thing to rank artistic endeavours against each other but the … Continue reading
Despite the endless disruptions, lockdowns, gig cancellations and postponements, there were still plenty of excellent albums released here in Australia in 2021. Most of them had their own unique sound too – drawing from folk, country, psych, blues and indie to differing degrees. There were established artists who continued to mature and evolve as well … Continue reading
‘The Great Unknown’ is the latest single from New Zealand songwriter HaydenGoSeek (also the front person of Cheap Fakes) and it details his travels from smalltown New Zealand to living in Australia. The song is a bristling piece of melodic country-tinged folk that wins on account of Hayden’s vocal and the counterpoint fiddle that shadows … Continue reading
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