RYAN ADAMS ROMEO & JULIET PAXAM RECORDING COMPANY Three years since the NY Times article that revealed his totally inappropriate behaviour with past partners, fellow musicians and fans and cast him into the musical wilderness, Ryan Adams has been slowly rebuilding his career on his own label. Wednesdays (2020), Big Colors (2021) and Chris (2022) …
TAMI NEILSON KINGMAKER MGM Tami Neilson’s career trajectory continues its impressive ascent as she emerges from the pandemic with an album that both celebrates women and challenges their treatment and role in society, particularly in the music industry. Neilson further explores her openminded approach to country music, whether it’s the Bobby Gentry-styled Southern noir and …
In the ever-changing world of digital advances, the question and viability of how to preserve, enhance and share one’s music continues to be a conundrum for artists. From box-sets to anniversary concerts, documentaries to reissues, everyone is looking to find new ways to monetise their back catalogues. In recent years, the Neil Young Archives website …
Check out the cover artwork for New Zealand duo Sin City’s debut album and you might be expecting a laidback Gram Parsons-styled cosmic country album, and there are elements of that, but at it’s core this is a rousing, loose-limbed blend of rock ’n’ roll, soul and country. From bar room brawls to late night …
THE DELINES THE SEA DRIFT LOVE POLICE RECORDS + TAPES Once considered a side project of Richmond Fontaine songwriter and frontman Willy Vlautin, on album #3 The Delines have comprehensively proven themselves as their own bittersweet and soulful microsystem, where damaged souls battle on against life’s twists and turns. Little beacons of hope amid the …
As you hit the top of a steep rise on a Lower Belford road in in the NSW Hunter Valley, you’re suddenly greeted by large letters spelling out ‘Dashville’, the home of Gum Ball, Thrashville and for the next three days, Dashville Skyline. After the last two years of festival cancellations and postponements, the stars …
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 …
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 …
We were mesmerised when we first heard the brand new album from Blue Mountains songwriter T. Wilds (Tania Bowers), Ten Songs. Featuring Matthew Toohey, the album is a stunning set of songs that sit within the folk idiom, perfectly balanced between modern folk noir and dusty traditional forms. You can hear the avant stylings that …
Melbourne-based songwriter Riley Catherall has just released his debut solo album When I Go and as far as first records go, this is one of those where the artist arrives seemingly fully formed. The evidence of that is in the way Catherall delivers such well-crafted songs with consummate ease. When I Go has a clear …
For decades, rumors have circulated among Creedence Clearwater Revival’s fans about a long-lost recording of their legendary 1970 show at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Now, Craft Recordings have announced that the rumours are, indeed, true. Available for pre-order today in multiple formats, the long-awaited Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall presents the concert in its entirety and finds CCR … Continue reading
ARLO MCKINLEY THIS MESS WE’RE IN OH BOY RECORDS This is Arlo McKinley’s third album but it was his last one, Die Midwestern that really elevated him into the pantheon of great contemporary country and folk songwriters. The good news is that he’s followed that superb album with another absolute gem. This Mess We’re In … Continue reading
IAN NOE RIVER FOOLS & MOUNTAIN SAINTS THIRTY TIGERS / COOKING VINYL AUSTRALIA Ian Noe’s debut of 2019 was one of those albums hit the radar of music enthusiasts and spread organically like wildfire. Richly imbued with the spirit and craft of folk and country songwriting it marked the arrival of a new and exciting … Continue reading
Emily Fairlight and Mike McLeod of The Shifting Sands blend their guitars and voices in a gloriously intertwined wash of sound on ‘Head Above’, the first single from their forthcoming collaborative LP Sun Casts A Shadow, out now via Fishrider Records. There are some wonderful stripped-back folk and alt-country qualities to the song as the … Continue reading
We’ve had some great new songs and videos to premiere of late and that continues today with the clip for ‘Yellowstone’, the excellent new single from Ernest Aines. Aines is a singer-songwriter from Melbourne who released his first EP, Already Found, in 2019 before extensively touring the USA, Japan, Canada, Germany and Brazil and writing … Continue reading
Meanjin/Brisbane duo Hillsborough back up their excellent 2022 single ‘Trouble Finds Its Way’ with another freewheeling gem in ‘Comin’ Back For You‘. Electricity and twang rattle and roll their way through the song as Phil Usher and Beata Maglai hitch a grainy black and white ride on a train. The film stock perfectly suits the … Continue reading
Jen Mize & The Rough N’ Tumble released their debut single ‘Elevator Ride‘ (AMRAP charts #1) a few weeks ago and now we’re very pleased to be able to premiere the video clip for the song, directed by Ashley Rees. A songwriting collaboration at a songwriting retreat between Jen Mize and Jeremy Edwards kick-started this … Continue reading
CALEXICO EL MIRADOR SPUNK! RECORDS El Mirador is the name of a lost Mayan city but in the context of Calexico’s 10th studio album it stands both as a lookout point and a beacon in the dark. Core members Joey Burns and John Convertino have been finessing their rhythmic and melodic interplay for 30 years … Continue reading
A haunting and delicate refrain signals the intro to Joyce Prescher‘s beautiful new single ‘Sleep Now’. Augmented by austere fingerpicked guitar, haunting cello and softly shuffling drums, Prescher sings of dreams, night and sleep as she explores the question “How much of yourself should you lose for someone else?” There’s a half-awake quality to the … Continue reading
Super sweet harmonies and vocal melodies on this new single from eight-piece Perth group Mama Red & The Dark Blues. ‘Going Down in Flames’ rides a light and rolling groove – propulsive with a gently hypnotic quality. The vocals are the drawcard, recalling the 1970s golden age of pop-laced country, but don’t underestimate the fine … Continue reading
Hailing from Liverpool England, the folk trio The Hermit reimagine traditional Irish tunes and Old English ballads alongside their own compositions with a thread of improvisation running through the music. Across six minutes on ‘Sarah wears her painted hair’, Charlie, Lynny and Michael take a languid and exploratory journey through hypnotic and lightly psychedelic folk. … Continue reading
ORVILLE PECK BRONCO COLUMBIA / SONY MUSIC From the heralded release of his debut album Pony in 2019, through a pandemic, fashion shoots and onto a major label deal with Columbia, Orville Peck’s ascent has been a meteoric one. He’s skilfully navigated the worlds of Americana, country and pop to create a unique modern day … Continue reading
ANDY GOLLEDGE STRENGTH OF A QUEEN I OH YOU If you’re looking for an early contender for Australian Americana album of the year then you’re reading the right review. Andy Golledge has been a mainstay of the local scene in Sydney for at least half a dozen years now. He’s a lynchpin of sorts with … Continue reading
Lucy Roleff and Lehmann B. Smith spent the last two years conceptualising, writing and recording their new collaborative album Dark Green at a remote retreat on the Grand Ocean Road. For fans of Grizzly Bear, late-period Talk Talk, Nick Drake, Nadia Reid, Tiny Ruins and Kelly Dance. Both musicians have enjoyed critically acclaimed and wide … Continue reading
If you’re a fan of classic melodic country/folk rock then this new single from Nashville group Teddy and the Rough Riders should hit the spot nicely. It comes from the band’s forthcoming self-titled, Margo Price-produced album, out July 1st via Appalachia Record Co. Teddy and The Rough Riders’s loving ode to the man—and the stories … Continue reading
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