Books Editor. An admirer of songs and reader of books. Simon has a PhD in English and Comparative Literature. All errant apostrophes are his own.
New Orleans’ Galactic are back with a new single, “Clap Your Hands”, featuring guest vocalist Miss Charm Taylor. The upbeat and percussive number is the first taste of the band’s new album (their first in more than three years), Already Ready Already, which is set for release in early 2019. After more than twenty years…
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Durand Jones & The Indications have offered up the first taste of their sophomore album, American Love Call, set for release March 1st, with their latest single “Don’t You Know”. It’s a nostalgia drenched track, and yet another nod to the classic soul music of the early Seventies. “Don’t You Know” is put simply put…
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Pearl The Girl has followed up her debut single “I Hate You” with her delightedly gutsy new track: “Mr Informative”. Pearl The Girl is a twenty-two year old songwriter, musician and actress from Sydney; you might remember her as Kim in Puberty Blues or more recently as MJ in The Crossing. “Mr Informative” and her…
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Matt Perriment is an indie folk-inspired singer songwriter currently based in London, who has steadily been establishing himself in the British festival scene. He’s recently released a new single, “Oceans”, which is the first taste of his forthcoming sophomore EP Memos, which is set for release in March 2019. Undoubtedly a gifted songwriter, Perriment has…
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Current tour mates Manchester Orchestra and The Front Bottoms have combined forces and released a new collaborative track, the single “Allentown”. “Allentown” features Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull and Brian Sella from The Front Bottoms trading verses over minimalist instrumental backing. It’s downbeat, pensive, and certainly a long way from what little I’ve heard of The…
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Warshy is the new solo project from Darren Johns, the frontman of British folk punks Crazy Arm. The project celebrated its first release this week with the drop of a self-titled EP. “Operation Chaos” is the opening track of the EP, and features some sublime fiddle work from Samantha Spake. Warshy came into existence…
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Thursday evening saw Holy Holy’s Faces tour hit Western Australia, with a show at Fremantle’s Mojo’s, the first of three in the state. Joining the band were Sydney indie rockers Clews and Perth local Bri Clark. The evening kicked off to a rather muted start with Bri Clark taking to the stage, armed just with…
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Friday night saw the South Lawn of the Fremantle Arts Centre play host to the penultimate night of Xavier Rudd’s Storm Boy Australian tour, joining Rudd for the evening were Victoria’s The Teskey Brothers. Having never seen The Teskey Brothers before, nor heard any of their output, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Even…
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Alice Springs based producer and multi-instrumentalist Resin Moon has emerged from his studio following a year-long stint, with a new single, “Nothing To See”, a tease of his forthcoming debut full length album Oscillations, which is earmarked for release in early 2019. “Nothing To See” is the first release from Resin Moon, since 2017 single…
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Brooklyn-based, Israeli queer pop musician DOV has released “Save”, his debut single and the first single from his forthcoming EP Be Your Lover, which is due for release early 2019. “Save” sees DOV team up with fellow Israeli vocalist TESHA to craft a track which explores the idea of discovering and celebrating your identity. DOV…
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Another month. Another five books. We might be getting closer to Christmas, but there’s nothing particularly “festive” about this month’s five titles. Though they’d all make wonderful gifts for the book lover in your life. It is a particularly fiction heavy list this month, with a debut short story collection, a highly anticipated second novel,…
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Today we are excited to premiere the debut EP from Brisbane’s Royal and The Southern Echo, the brainchild of singer-songwriter Bryce Schneider, ahead of its official release tomorrow. Partly written whilst living in Berlin, Correspondence is Schneider’s attempt to bring some of the Queensland sunshine to Europe, and find a sense of home. Listening to…
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Last Friday saw Melbourne trio LÛMIS release their debut single “Drift”, and features vocals from Imogen Brough. The Melbourne based trio initially began collaborating on music back in 2014, and are heavily influenced by 1980’s synthesisers and cinematic film scores. Those influences certainly shine through on “Drift”, with those retro synths front and centre from…
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Thursday night saw Didirri’s Measurements Tour hit Fremantle, for the first of two shows across in the West. Joining the Melbourne singer-songwriter were fellow Victorian Merpire and Brisbane’s Emerson Snowe. Merpire, tasked with kicking off proceedings, did a good job of warming up an already substantial crowd. It was a wholly stripped back affair with…
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Formed more than a decade ago amidst the Canadian prairies, Foxwarren are set to release their debut self-titled record via ANTI- Records at the end of the month. In anticipation of it’s release the band have dropped the infectious lead single – “Everything Apart”. Foxwarren is comprised of siblings and childhood friends, all of whom…
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Last week Icelandic R&B musician Auður released his new record Afsakanir, and despite the fact I cannot understand a single word of it, I can report that it’s absolutely beautiful stuff. Afsakanir, which Google reliably informs me translates to Excuses, features a host of collaborations with a number of up-and-coming Icelandic musicians, including Birnir, GDRN…
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Following on from the release of their much anticipated sophomore EP Do You Know Enough? Canberra alt-rockers Moaning Lisa have dropped a new music video for “Lily”. What better way to get us all excited for their upcoming tour? Formed in 2016, Moaning Lisa have done pretty well for themselves in their burgeoning career, earning themselves some NLMA nominations,…
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Los Angeles-based country singer-songwriter Dominique Pruitt has dropped a new single, her first release in five years. “High in the Valley” is a swaggering retro-tinged ode to the monotony of the 9-to-5 life, if you like your country music fiesty and female driven, then this is the track for you. Despite coming from a musical…
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2018 really has been the year for Jazz treasure hunters, with the release of not one, but two, previously unreleased recordings from jazz’s most influential artists – John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. Back in June we saw the release of Coltrane’s Both Direction at Once: The Lost Album; and now we have Mønk – a…
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Just last week I was saying to one of the guys at my local record store that it’d been a while since Steve Gunn had released anything. The very next day, we get an album announcement and an opening taste of what’s to come with new single “New Moon”. For the past eleven years the…
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Crack open the Mezcal and the Tequila! There’s a new supergroup on the scene, Glorietta, and they’re delivering some top shelf Alt-rock Americana. Glorietta is the brainchild of Delta Spirit/Middle Brother’s Matthew Logan Vasquez. Their self-titled record is a collection of songs written and recorded by Vasquez, and his friends over five days in a…
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The shortlists for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced today, bringing together some of Australia’s most prominent and decorated writers. The Fiction shortlist, for example, features two former Man Booker winners, and two Miles Franklin winners. The Awards recognise Australia’s literary talent across six different categories: fiction, non-fiction, Australian history, young adult…
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Singer-Songwriter, and oft-dubbed “most mysterious man in music”, Allan Rayman has recently dropped a new single. “Rose” is the first taste from Rayman’s forthcoming album, Harry Hard-On, which is set for release on November 16th. Rayman, now based in Toronto, remains something of an enigma. He rarely grants interviews, his social media presence is minimal…
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If you’ve stepped into any store over the last couple of weeks you’d probably have noticed that the countdown for Christmas is well and truly on. This also means there are no shortage of new books being released into the world. Earlier this month, on the so-called “Super Thursday” there were 544 new books released…
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Berlin based electronic duo Ducks! Have released new single, “Pinprick In”, their third from their forthcoming new album. Formed in 2014, Ducks! are the brainchild of singer-songwriter Lani Bagley, and the ARIA award-winning producer Craig Schuftan. The duo released their debut album Ding Ding Ding in 2016, which went on to be longlisted for the Australian…
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Fresh from a touring in the UK, Melbourne’s Olympia hit Fremantle, and the West Coast, on Thursday kicking off a run of shows around the country. Joining Olympia on the night were locals Noah Dillon and Felicity Groom. Noah Dillon kicked off the evening strongly. Backed by a the standard trio of drums, bass and…
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Melbourne producer Harvey Sutherland today dropped his new single “Amethyst”, a jazz infused broken beat transcontinental odyssey featuring London-based saxophonist Nubya Garcia and drummer Kahlil Memphis. “Amethyst” is another step in what is an already unpredictable career from Harvey Sutherland. Whilst the producer, DJ and funk synthesist may have made a name for himself amidst…
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Monday night saw William Shatner kick off the Australian tour of his one-man show Shatner’s World: The Return Down Under in Perth. It was an evening of warmth, humour and philosophical musings. All. Delivered. In. That. Distinctive. Cadence. However, it was also not without its surprises. For example, whilst Shatner is likely best known for his role…
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Ahead of the release of their new record Look Up later in the year, UK quintet Me And My Friends have given us a taste of what to expect with the release of their new single: “High As The Sun”. Me and My Friends take their cues from an eclectic range of influences, drawing inspiration from Ghanian highlife, afrobeat,…
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Ahead of a tour of Japan which kicks off tomorrow, Gold Coast singer-songwriter Alexander William has dropped his new single “Roses”, the first from his forthcoming debut album, and quite simply it is really beautiful stuff. There is a precociousness to Alexander William, and “Roses” in particular, there is a maturity and worldliness at work…
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