Melbourne singer-songwriter Alexander Biggs has dropped a new single to celebrate his forthcoming shows at Austin’s prestigious South by Southwest festival. “Laundromat” delivers more of the mellow vibes and sweet, poetic lyrics we’ve come to expect from Alexander.
Listening to “Laundromat” is the perfect antidote to the stress of the working week, with all its hustle and bustle. The single version is on your favorite digital streaming services, but I thought I’d share this live version with you. Recorded at Paste Studio in New York City, this video gives you a little taste of what you can expect at Alexander’s shows.
Alex will warm up for his next U.S. dates with a single launch show for hometown fans at Common Rooms on February 21. Americans and expats can catch him in Austin from March 16 to 22.
I’ve always felt Melbourne band MOBS were on the verge of greatness. With the release of their new single “Find Another You,” they’re inching ever closer to getting there.
This track sees the band coming of age with its glorious blend of melancholy and optimism. While the verses explore the pain of relationships, the joyous chorus reminds us that there will always be another day, and another person to make our hearts soar. Can we just take a moment to appreciate that sax line too? MOBS take their cues from retro synth-pop acts including Tears for Fears and Spandau Ballet along with modern masters like Passion Pit and LANY. It’s fresh, fun, but with a darkness that adds depth.
Inspiration came from the most unlikely of places, according to lead singer Jordan Clarey.
“’Find Another You’ is about the movie She’s All That,” he admitted. “Instead of being about a jerk turning a geeky girl into a popular girl, our song is about that jerk getting hurt and doing whatever he can to get over the fact that he’s vulnerable and just wants to be happy. This was a fun sidestep from the theme of writing about movies as this was us creating our own story inside of the movie”.
These guys had a busy 2019, playing shows in China, the US, and the UK, as well as here at home. With songs like “Find Another You” in their arsenal, we can expect 2020 to be even bigger. They’ll play a string of shows in North America next month and The Great Escape festival in the United Kingdom later this year. Catch MOBS at the following events and expect many more show announcements soon!
9 February 2020 – Set it Off @ Phantasy Nightclub, Lakewood
11 February 2020 – Set it Off @ Majestic Theatre, Madison
12 February 2020 – Set it Off @ TAK Music Venue, Dilworth
15 February 2020 – Set it Off @ The Rec Room, Calgary
18 February 2020 – Set it Off @ Biltmore Ballroom, Vancouver
13 May 2020 – The Great Escape, Brighton
Summer is festival time, a time for welcoming some big international talents to our shores and discovering some brand new artists. The Brother Brothers fall into the latter category, but they’ve quickly become a favourite of mine with their beautiful folky music and the sort of sublime harmonies that only come when siblings join forces. Their debut album Some People I Know dropped in 2018, but the American identical twins are only just making it to our part of the world.
David Moss plays cello and guitar while his brother Adam plays the five-string fiddle. They both write and sing with an uncomplicated style that is such a welcome throwback. Take a listen to their song “Colorado” and just see if it doesn’t give you chills.
The Brother Brothers will play selected festivals and headlining shows over the next few weeks, starting with Woodford later this month. Catch them at all the following venues!
29 December 2019 – 1 January 2020 – Woodford Folk Festival, Woodford
3 January 2020 – Old Museum, Brisbane
4 January 2020 – Dorrigo Gazette Theatre, Dorrigo
5 January 2020 – Live n Cookin’ @ Lizotte’s, Newcastle
7 January 2020 – The Vanguard, Sydney
8 January 2020 – Smith’s Alternative, Canberra
9 January 2020 – The Spotted Mallard, Melbourne
10-12 January 2020 – Cygnet Folk Festival, Cygnet
14 January 2020 – Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart
15 January 2020 – Adventure Bay Hall, Adventure Bay
16 January 2020 – Mountain Mojo, Sheffield
17-19 January 2020 – Illawarra Folk Festival NSW, Illawarra
Aussie expat Lucas Laufen casts a spell with his new single, “I Know Where Silence Lives.” It’s a beautiful folky number inspired by Lucas’s experience watching the ocean from a bird-watching tower on the border of the Netherlands and Germany.
“It was the first time I’d seen the sea in months and I remember thinking, ‘this is where silence lives’,” he recalled. “The wind was super strong so it wasn’t actually silent but I felt at home with the salt spray and no one around. So it’s silence relating to peace as opposed to real acoustic silence.”
Much like the song itself, the songwriting process was a bit of a slow-burn.
“When I was growing up, my father would always wake up at 5:30 am to find a quiet place before the rest of the world woke up. I’d see him wandering down the beach by himself and I never really understood what he was doing. While writing this song I finally understood the reason for this and feel that I’ve grown to seek these moments out like my father did,” he added. “The song spans a one-year writing process, which is strange for me. I usually find it hard to hold onto an emotion for this long and a song will lose its meaning if it’s drawn out for this amount of time. It was my way of looking through his life and trying to understand him. I found that we are very similar people and hold this thought as an anchor when I’m trying to figure out when I’m going with my life.”
The film clip expands on Lucas’ original idea, telling the story of a woman who leaves city life to find her own quiet place in the Norwegian countryside.
“We purposefully begin the video with a greyish look and feel, the actress, Leona Grundig, is obviously sick of traffic and noise, the colours of her clothes are nondescript and she looks like she’s in the wrong place,” explained the director, Dennis Schischke. “Her mood lifts the closer she gets to her destination, the colours of her clothing changes and the colour grading is more saturated. Within the video there are three portraits of her, the last one shows the end of her journey and her reaction to finally finding her own silence.”
“I Know Where Silence Lives” is the title track from Lucas Laufen’s new album, which drops on December 6. He’ll play a string of shows around Europe in the coming months to support its release.
14 December 2019 – Privatclub, Berlin
30 January 2020 – L’Atelier, Basel
1 February 2020 – Chur Unplugged, Chur
3 February 2020 – Sofar Sounds, Paris
5 February 2020 – Cafe De Loge, Ghent
6 February 2020 – Cafe Litteraire Le Bovary, Luxembourg
9 February 2020 – Cafe de Witte, Assen
17 February 2020 – Viertal Bar, Wuppertal
18 February 2020 – Schlosskeller, Darmstadt
19 February 2020 – Lolita Bar, Kassel
20 February 2020 – Altes Wettburo, Dresden
21 February 2020 – Moritzhof, Magdeburg
22 February 2020 – Wohnzimmermucke, Bayreuth
24 February 2020 – Inspire, Chemnitz
25 February 2020 – Horns Erben, Leipzig
27 February 2020 – Stubenkonzerte, Aarau
28 February 2020 – La Cyma, Winterthur
2 March 2020 – Rififi, Innsbruck
3 March 2020 – Das Wohnzimmer, Klagenfurt
4 March 2020 – Guest Room, Graz
5 March 2020 – Rhiz, Wien
7 March 2020 – Foxis/Fuxbau, Freistadt
9 March 2020 – FOX, Munchen
10 March 2020 – Cafe Manheim, Nuremberg
11 March 2020 – Viertelkultur, Wurzburg
12 March 2020 – Kulturcafe Lichtung, Koln
16 March 2020 – Tonfink, Lubeck
17 March 2020 – Pony Bar, Hamburg
Image used with permission from Guerilla Music Promotion; credit: Jordan Kirk
Life’s good for Millington, who is currently touring Europe and the United Kingdom with fellow Melbourne act Pierce Brothers. In that spirit of celebration comes his latest single “I Am That,” a life-affirming ditty all about embracing yourself and your voice. It’s a topic Millington understands all too well, as he used music to overcome a pronounced stammer.
“Music gave me the opportunity to communicate and express myself deeply, work things through whilst telling myself to sort my shit out when things got/get challenging and difficult,” he explained. “I have been speaking and thinking in rhythms for as long as I can remember.”
Millington hopes to tour Australia really soon, but in the meantime if you’re abroad, do yourself a favour and check him out with Pierce Brothers at the following shows.
25 September 2019 – Rotown, Rotterdam
26 September 2019 – 013 Jupiler Zaal, Tilburg
27 September 2019 – Melkweg, Amsterdam
28 September 2019 – La Madeleine, Brussels
29 September 2019 – Le Gibus Club, Paris
1 October 2019 – Doornroosje, Nijmegen
3 October 2019 – O2 Academy, Oxford
4 October 2019 – Thekla, Bristol
5 October 2019 – O2 Institute, Birmingham
7 October 2019 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
8 October 2019 – Òran Mór, Glasgow
9 October 2019 – The Deaf Institute, Manchester
11 & 12 October 2019 – The Garage, London
Image used with permission from the A&R Department
Melbourne punksters Press Club might be conquering the world right now, but they don’t want us to forget them here at home. They’ve just released a brand new video for the ballsy single “Thinking About You” and their new album Wasted Energy drops tomorrow, August 16.
“The idea for the ‘Thinking About You’ video clip came to me as we touched down from a 20-plus hour transit home from our first European tour in May this year,” explained guitarist Greg Rietwyk. “I pictured a surreal retelling of the story of a stalking stranger that is told within the song lyrics, with [vocalist] Nat [Foster] being tormented by masked freaks. We enlisted the help of our good friend and filmmaker Gina Somfleth from Popcandi productions. We are all massive fans of Gina’s keen eye for cinematography.It was shot on location at Nat’s parents farm outside of Ballarat in North Western, Victoria. We particularly enjoyed being able to feed our inner pyromaniacs in what was to become the climax of the film. We’ve thrown a few DIY festivals at the farm where it was shot so the location holds a special place in our collective hearts”
It’s no coincidence that on album release day, Press Club will play an instore in Melbourne before jetting off for more UK and European dates. With appearances at Reading and Leeds festivals and stacks more, if you’re living abroad you don’t want to miss this.
16 August 2019 – Oh Jean Instore, Melbourne
22 August 2019 – The Parish, Huddersfield
23 August 2019 – Reading Festival, Reading
24 August 2019 – Leeds Festival, Leeds
25 August 2019 – Greenbelt Festival, Northamptonshire
27 August 2019 – Redrum, Stafford
28 August 2019 – Bodega, Nottingham
29 August 2019 – Surf Cafe, Newcastle
30 August 2019 – Broadcast, Glasgow
31 August 2019 – Night People, Manchester
3 September 2019 – Annie’s, Worcester
4 September 2019 – Bermuda Bob’s Hi-Fi, Norwich
5 September 2019 – New Cross Inn, London
6 September 2019 – Prince Albert, Brighton
8 September 2019 – Cinetol, Amsterdam
10 September 2019 – Haldern Pop Bar, Haldern
11 September 2019 – Sonic Ballroom, Cologne
12 September 2019 – Alte Hackerei, Karlsruhe
13 September 2019 – Dynamo, Zurich
14 September 2019 – Strom, Munich
15 September 2019 – Cross Club, Prague
18 September 2019 – Stengade – Copenhagen
19 & 20 September 2019 – Reeperbahn, Hamburg
21 September 2019 – Vera, Groningen
Image used with permission from Little Giant Agency; photo credit: Ian Laidlaw
They’re not quite household names here yet, but The Faim are destined for greatness. They sold out shows around the United Kingdom and Europe earlier this year and are getting rave reviews in leading publications like Forbes, NME, and Billboard. Not bad for a couple of mates from Perth, right?
If you love big anthemic rock tracks from the likes of Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco, you’re going to adore these guys and their most recent single “Amelie.” Take a listen and if you dig it, make sure you get along to one of their upcoming Aussie shows. Something tells me they’ll be playing larger venues and spending less and less time in Australia as time goes on!
12 July 2019 – The Zoo, Brisbane (ALL AGES)
12 July 2019 – The Zoo, Brisbane (18+)
13 July 2019 – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide
14 July 2019 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (ALL AGES)
14 July 2019 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (18+)
17 July 2019 – The Factory, Sydney
19 July 2019 – Vision Studios, Perth
20 July 2019 – Jack Rabbit Slims, Perth
17 August 2019 – Frequency Festival, St Polten
19 August 2019 – Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg
20 August 2019 – Melkweg, Amsterdam
21 August 2019 – Den Eglantier, Antwerp
23 August 2019 – Leeds Festival, Leeds
25 August 2019 – Reading Festival, Reading
27 August 2019 – Academy 2, Dublin
28 August 2019 – Oh Yeah, Belfast
29 August 2019 – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
30 August 2019 – Arts Club, Liverpool
31 August 2019 – Corporation, Sheffield
1 September 2019 – Epic Studios, Norwich
4 September 2019 – Den Atelier, Luxembourg
5 September 2019 – Skaters Palace, Munster
7 September 2019 – Hydrozagadka, Warsaw
8 September 2019 – Lollapalooza, Berlin
10 September 2019 – Tower, Bremen
11 September 2019 – Meetfactory, Prague
Gold Coast singer-songwriter Jacob Leecaught my attention last year with his track “With You,” but like so many indie musicians he seemed to fade from view. However, if like me you’ve wondered what happened to him, wonder no more.
It seems Jacob caught the ears of a global audience and he’s kicking major goals abroad. He currently has more than 320,000 YouTube subscribers and his EPs have amassed more than 60 million streams on Spotify. He just headlined his first tour of Europe and the United Kingdom and sold out venues in minutes, inspiring organisers to move him to larger spaces to meet the demand. Best of all, he’s done it all without the support of a major label or mainstream press.
So here’s more raving about Jacob from press on the fringes: his new single “Conscience” is amazing. It’s the first of 11 tracks from the album of the same name Jacob will release this year. He’s playing shows locally all over the country supporting Dennis Lloyd. If you’ve got tickets, don’t just dismiss him as a support act and skip his set, because he’s getting to be quite the big deal and he won’t be playing support slots here for too much longer. After he wraps that up he’ll play North America, followed by some yet-to-be-announced dates in South America, Asia, and the UK and Europe again. Needless to say, the future looks very bright for Jacob Lee.
10 May 2019 – 256 Wickham, Brisbane (supporting Dennis Lloyd)
11 May 2019 – Metropolis, Fremantle (supporting Dennis Lloyd)
13 July 2019 – Aisle 5, Atlanta
17 July 2019 – Mercury Lounge, New York
20 July 2019 – The Drake, Toronto
24 July 2019 – Space, Chicago
27 July 2019 – Cambridge Room, Dallas
31 July 2019 – Hotel Café, Los Angeles
1 August 2019 – Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco
Image used with permission from Chugg Music
Conrad Sewell has made a career singing tug-at-the-heartstrings ballads that stir the soul. He’s at it again with his latest single “Life,” the title track from his forthcoming debut album.
The album Life hits Australia on May 17. Conrad will mark its release with an art exhibition in Sydney on May 16. Photographers were invited to submit their works which represent the meaning of life. The ones an expert creative panel featuring Conrad himself like best will be displayed on the night. Conrad will also showcase some of the album’s tracks on the night.
While the launch is exclusively for VIPs, Conrad is giving fans plenty of opportunities to see him in the coming weeks. He will play shows all around Australia and North America to celebrate Life’s release. If you missed out on tickets, or you just want to get up close and personal with the man himself, he’s playing a bunch of old-school shopping centre instores leading up to the tour. Catch him at the following places.
9 May 2019 – Fishbone, Alexandria (6 pm)
11 May 2019 – Westfield Woden, Woden (noon)
13 May 2019 – Garden City Centre, Booragoon (3:30 pm)
22 May 2019 – Queen Street Mall, Brisbane (4:30 pm)
23 May 2019 – Beatniks Records, Broadbeach (4:30 pm)
25 May 2019 – Astor Theatre, Perth (ALL AGES)
31 May 2019 – Eatons Hill Ballroom, Brisbane (ALL AGES)
1 June 2019 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (ALL AGES)
4 June 2019 – The Gov, Adelaide (ALL AGES)
7 June 2019 – The Forum, Melbourne (18+)
12 June 2019 – The Mint, Los Angeles
13 June 2019 – Café du Nord, San Francisco
16 June 2019 – Globe Hall, Denver
18 June 2019 – Subterranean, Chicago
20 June 2019 – Mercury Lounge, New York
21 June 2019 – Sonia Live Music Venue, Cambridge
22 June 2019 – The Drake Hotel, Toronto
Image used with permission from Sony Music Australia
Alex Lahey is right on track for world domination, and her latest single, “Am I Doing it Right?” will do little to hurt her cause. It’s a classic slice of retro power pop that makes me want to reach for my hairbrush and put on a private show. It’s ultra catchy with a nostalgic feel millennials and those of us old enough to remember the first coming of this kind of music will love.
Alex will play shows in the United Kingdom and Europe next month before heading home for a string of dates with her favourite Australian band of the moment, Stand Atlantic. Catch her while you can, as she’s off to the United States and Canada once the Aussie tour wraps! Here are all the places you can catch her play in the coming months.
13 May 2019 – Broadcast, Glasgow
15 May 2019 – Empire Music Hall, Belfast
16 May 2019 – The Grand Social, Dublin
17 May 2019 – Arts Club, Liverpool
19 May 2019 – The Cookie, Leicester
20 May 2019 – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
23 May 2019 – Oslo, London
6 June 2019 – The Gov, Adelaide (18+)
7 June 2019 – Rock Rover, Fremantle (18+)
13 June 2019 – The Tivoli, Brisbane (All Ages)
14 June 2019 – The Basement, Canberra (18+)
15 June 2019 – Metro Theatre, Sydney (All Ages)
22 June 2019 – Forum, Melbourne (18+)
23 June 2019 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC (U18 matinee)
9-11 August 2019 – Outside Lands, San Francisco
13 August 2019 – The Troubadour, Los Angeles
14 August 2019 – Valley Bar Phoenix
16 August 2019 – Antone’s ,Austin
19 August 2019 – The Earl, Atlanta
20 August 2019 – Exit / In, Nashville
22 August 2019 – U Street Music Hall, Washington, DC
23 August 2019 – Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
24 August 2019 – Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia
25 August 2019 – Great Scott, Allston
27 August 2019 – Lincoln Hall, Chicago
28 August 2019 – Turf Club, St. Paul
1 September 2019 – Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver
3 September 2019 – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland
Image used with permission from Riot House Publicity
