River Dreams take a step closer to the release of the debut album Small Paintings, due out in 2021. The nom de plume of Sydney songwriter/band leader Carl Manwarring, River Dreams is nuanced songwriting par-excellence. There are elements of dark folk rock, alt-country, and a rolling and evocative, baroque indie rock sound in his songs. … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
West Australian songwriter Tanya Ransom has a brand new EP out called Breakdown To Breakthrough and today we’re featuring the title-track which possesses one of those magical choruses that lifts the song skyward, soaring on a beautiful melodic run. The art of doing that while singing about troubled times is what makes it that much … Continue reading
Melbourne-based New Zealand songwriter Matt Joe Gow has released a brand new single ‘Go Ahead, Celebrate’, bringing a ray of optimistic sunshine to this shitshow of a year, a clarion country call to celebrate… like we used to. Gow nails the requisite uplifting mood and yearning for good times that a song title like that … Continue reading
The New York songwriter Mike Etten has released his new single ‘Saints’, taken from his forthcoming new LP Love Wash, October 1st. We’re really impressed with the sound on this, the way he blends a dreamy, rhythmic psych-folk sound with added synths etc. Earlier this month he also released the video clip for the song … Continue reading
I first came across Mitch Dillon‘s work with another of his bands – Attractor Beams. There he had a superb garage rock meets The Replacements sound. Here he doesn’t travel a great distance from that sound but it is a more distinct alt-country feel. ‘Do You Want Me to Forget?’ is less parched and brittle, … Continue reading
Ripper of a track from Sydney, yet another top shelf release from the Evening Records crew. K. Walsh (Kevin to his mum) treads a finely balanced line between country and the interesting side of rock music. There are strummed electric guitars and walking bass lines mingling with handclaps, psych guitar sounds and most rewardingly, some … Continue reading
I’m a big fan of David Garnham‘s music; the way he can dial into straight and true folk music and then shift gears to the open highway of an alt-country song with his band (the Reasons to Live) in full flight. The latter is perfectly executed on this new track, ‘Holding Pattern’. The song swaggers … Continue reading
Sydney musician Looch Lewis has released a cover of Died Pretty’s ‘Free Dirt’, the last track on their 1988 album Lost and strangely the title of their previous album though the song didn’t appear on it. The original featured Don Walker on piano and Astrid Munday on backing vocals. Lewis stays true to the original, … Continue reading
Sydney songwriter Iain T. McKelvey has released a new solo single ‘Writer’s Lament‘ on Evening Records and we’re very pleased to premiere the video clip today. Combining footage of McKelvey and the beautiful cosmic illustrated animations of Bec O’Brien (AKA Darby) that were hand drawn, frame by frame, the clip taps in to the metamorphosis … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Tyler Key (Athens, GA)has just released his album Wild Azaleas And Other Tall Tales, making this song the title track of sorts. I just love this kind of sound – that rolling country rock sway, burnished by a warm and melodic vocal that winds its way through the verses and lifts into a gentle anthem … Continue reading
Here’s the first single from Tim Easton‘s new album of the same name, due out on August 27th. We’ve got a heap of fond memories of seeing Tim perform down here in Sydney and at the Dashville Skyline Festival in the Hunter Valley. Such a brilliant songsmith, live performer and guitarist who knows deftly navigate … Continue reading
Brooklyn singer-songwriter Nick Watt released his new album a few weeks ago and one of its highlights is ‘Chimes in the Wind’, a Cohen-esque folk ballad that won us over with metronomic and percussive finger-picking, warm bass notes and his austere and rich vocal intonations that add the requisite drama and forlorn mood to the … Continue reading
Harvey Russell’s latest single ‘Gave You Flowers’ rounds out the highly successful campaign for his 2019 country music album Liquid Damage. ‘Gave You Flowers’ kicks along with a honky tonk twang and country rock swagger as he details the well-intentioned but ultimately failed efforts of making up for bad behaviour. Russell’s band The Widowmakers provide the requisite quick-footed, toe-tapping swing and … Continue reading
