Is there anything more romantic than someone rearranging their plans to take a chance on someone special? I think not! Jake McCullough, the frontman of Eora/Sydney band MOONWOOD, shares the story of the time he took a chance on love in the band’s latest single “Lady in Red.”
“A few years ago, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to work in Los Angeles. Minutes before booking my flight and telling my boss I was leaving to pursue my dream I received a text message from a girl (the Lady in Red) asking if I was leaving. In recent weeks, I developed feelings for her despite being friends for years. I wasn’t sure if she felt the same way. As far as I was concerned, I did not think I had any chance, as I only had a short timeframe to grab this opportunity in Los Angeles. Instead of flying, I decided to pursue a girl who might turn me down. The move was risky, but it was worth pursuing,” he explained.
The song is pure joy, as is the lyric music video which sees Jake dancing in the middle of a street. The things we do for love, hey?
MOONWOOD have a couple of gigs coming up, including their big hometown single launch, so get on it!
Western Australian singer-songwriter EDIE is taking me right back to the ‘90s with her new song “Front Row.” A grungy sound reminiscent of icons like Juliana Hatfield or Liz Phair, check. Lyrics exploring unrequited love that borders on obsession, check. We’ve all been there, right?
“Through the track ‘Front Row,’ I explore themes of fixation, love, and obsession. The song shines a light on the dynamic of a parasocial relationship and its all-encompassing nature,” EDIE explained. “The track conveys the power of the mind to create a fully realized fantasy relationship about an individual who is not even aware of your existence. From personal experience, I know this can happen to the best of us!”
The music video plays on EDIE’s ‘90s film influences, capturing the relationship between a front-row fan, played by EDIE, and the lead singer of a band.
“When I was a kid, I always enjoyed creating music videos with my best friend. We spent so much time planning and creating and so to be able to create and experience a music video is a childhood dream come true!” she gushed. “It was so incredibly fun and such a rewarding experience to see my vision and dream come to life. When I met my director Steph [Senior] it was a true meeting of like minds as we had a shared vision of how to capture the story within the song.”
This is such a cool track, I can’t wait to hear what comes next for EDIE.
Image used with permission from beehive; credit: Stephanie Senior
Start your day right with Eora/Sydney pop-punk act A Swift Farewell’s bold new single “Sorry”. If the effects of your coffee are starting to wane, this track should give you the adrenalin rush you need to get to lunchtime.
“‘Sorry’ explores a time where I felt like every negative situation I was in was caused by me,” vocalist Ryo Sprott explained. “Relationships falling apart, band members leaving, etc., I felt like I was responsible for other people’s feelings and for making them leave me. The line ‘Held you too close / I squeezed your life away’ was written about an ex who broke up with me. At the time, I thought that it was my fault because I had cared too much, tried too hard and had suffocated them instead of giving them space. I found out later it wasn’t the reason they had left.”
The track comes with a fantastic music video filmed, directed, and edited by Dunelabs’ Oliver Clarke.
“The storyline of this video follows the song’s theme: feeling like your words and action are hurting someone else,” added A Swift Farewell’s guitarist and songwriter Sarah Bonnet. “The first actor is spitting black paint, which represents the words coming out of his mouth, as well as his actions. The second actor is crying black paint, which represents the hurt that these words and actions caused. The first is trying to say he’s sorry, but it’s too late and he can’t fix the damage that’s already done.”
A Swift Farewell will celebrate the release of “Sorry” with a trip to Naarm/Melbourne for Perish Fest on March 18.
Image used with permission from Good Intent; credit: Jack Fontes
Budjerah is already one of the hottest emerging artists in the country, and he’s set to get a whole lot bigger in the coming months. He’ll play massive stadiums around the country supporting Ed Sheeran and slots at For The Love Festival. He’s also just dropped a fabulous new single, “Therapy,” penned by superstar songwriters Sarah Aarons (John Legend, Demi Lovato) and Stint (Kesha, Panic! At the Disco).
“When I first heard the demo for ‘Therapy’, it hit me at the perfect time. I was going through a few things and the song really nailed how I was feeling at the time,” Budjerah admitted. “Therapy is about frustration in a relationship. It’s the thoughts and feelings that can erupt when you don’t understand each other and that can be tough to deal with. Therapy can come in many forms, but taking a step back and getting an outside perspective is something that has helped me.”
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to see Budjerah this year, starting with all these dates:
British singer Maisie Peters is making the most of her first trip to Australia. She’ll play seven headlining shows alongside her support slots with her friend and mentor, Ed Sheeran. If you’re not familiar with Maisie’s music, her latest single “Body Better” is a great introduction. It’s such a fun pop song, but it’s also got some really relatable lyrics that address the insecurities many of us feel when an ex moves on.
“Body Better” comes from Maisie’s forthcoming sophomore album. Limited tickets for all her shows are available, so get onto them!
I think there’s just enough summer left for a summer anthem, right? Jack Botts has dropped one of the season’s best, “All Day,” ahead of the independent release of his debut album Sucker for Sunsets. The eclectic release sees Jack exploring genres and pushing himself as a songwriter.
“There are some styles I had just never given a shot before, like country,” he laughed. “I wondered ‘it’s one of the biggest genres in the world, but why is it so big?’ So I really dove in and started to appreciate why people relate to it. It became a personal challenge for me then… if I wanted to keep writing the same songs, I guess I could, but there’s no growth in that. I want to keep growing and surprising myself and others.”
Jack is currently supporting Vance Joy in North America, but he’ll be back on home soil soon enough for his own headline shows supporting the March 31 release of Sucker for Sunsets. Just days after appearing at BASSINTHEGRASS, he’ll be in Europe for some more headlining shows. No matter where in the world you are, here are all the dates you need:
15 February 2023 – FirstOntario Concert Hall, Hamilton (supporting Vance Joy)
17 February 2023 – Kemba Live!, Columbus (supporting Vance Joy)
18 February 2023 – Chicago Theatre, Chicago (supporting Vance Joy)
19 February 2023 – State Theatre, Minneapolis (supporting Vance Joy)
3 March 2023 – Paramount Theatre, Seattle (supporting Vance Joy)
4 March 2023 – Paramount Theatre, Seattle (supporting Vance Joy)
9 March 2023 – Fox Theatre, Oakland (supporting Vance Joy)
10 March 2023 – Fox Theatre, Oakland (supporting Vance Joy)
11 March 2023 – YouTube Theatre, Los Angeles (supporting Vance Joy)
16 March 2023 – SOMA, San Diego (supporting Vance Joy)
18 March 2023 – Arizona Financial Theatre, Phoenix (supporting Vance Joy)
21 March 2023 – Austin City Limits Live @ The Moody Theatre, Austin (supporting Vance Joy)
23 March 2023 – Coca-Cola Roxy, Atlanta (supporting Vance Joy)
24 March 2023 – The Fillmore Charlotte, Charlotte (supporting Vance Joy)
25 March 2023 – The Anthem, Washington, D.C. (supporting Vance Joy)
31 March 2023 – Lion Arts Factory, Tartanya/Adelaide
1 April 2023 – The Rosemount, Boorloo/Perth
14 April 2023 – The Triffid, Meeanjin/Brisbane
15 April 2023 – Factory Theatre, Eora/Sydney
28 April 2023 – 170 Russell, Naarm/Melbourne
20 May 2023 – BASSINTHEGRASS, Larrakia Country/Darwin
23 May 2023 – Nochtspeicher, Hamburg
24 May 2023 – Privatclub, Berlin
25 May 2023 – Jaki – Klub im Stadtgarten, Cologne
26 May 2023 – Muffatwerk, Munich
8 June 2023 – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
9 June 2023 – Cluny 2, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
10 June 2023 – The Castle Hotel, Manchester
11 June 2023 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
14 June 2023 – Bergenfest, Bergen
21 June 2023 – Patronaat, Haarlem
22 June 2023 – Cafe ‘t Rozenknopje, Eindhoven
23 June 2023 – Theater Walhalla, Rotterdam
12 July 2023 – The Louisiana, Bristol
14 July 2023 – The Prince Albert, Brighton
15 July 2023 – The Lexington, London
28 July 2023 – The Watering Hole, Perranporth
Image used with permission from Cult Logic; credit: Kieran Tunbridge
I’ve been a fan of Pacific Avenue ever since they dropped their single “Easy Love” back in 2021. A debut album is long overdue, but fans will be happy to know it’s just a few months away. Until then, get your ears around their latest radio-friendly single “Spin Me Like Your Records.”
“The main theme behind writing ‘Spin Me Like Your Records’ was to get a fun, upbeat track that we could dance around to and have as a really nice moment in our live set for festivals,” the band explained. “We got to a point where we thought we’d finished the album and had a listening party with our label, publisher and management, and while we loved it, we all thought it could use some straight-up-and-down classic rock songs. So, we wrote our last single, ‘Leaving For London’, another album track, ‘Modern Lovers’ and finally this single, and I don’t think the album would be the same without them. It’s just another silly song about being hopelessly into someone.”
Pacific Avenue’s debut album Flowers hits stores on May 5. They’ll play Hamilton Station Hotel in Mulubinba/Newcastle on March 18. Fresh from those recent festival appearances, I’d be surprised if we don’t see more shows announced to coincide with the album’s release really soon.
Image used with permission from Good Intent; credit: Charlie Hardy
Inspired by his time living in Los Angeles, Naarm/Melbourne indie-pop act San Joseph has released his latest super-catchy single “This City Sucks.” The lyrics explore the way you can fall out of love with a place when a special someone isn’t there.
“I’d spent some time in California with someone wonderful who returned home to Montreal. She’d always comment on how overrated LA was and I would strongly disagree … until she left,” he admitted. “I realised I only really dug LA because she was there. Suddenly the traffic, chaos and stardom didn’t seem as appealing anymore.”
San Joseph is currently writing music for his debut EP, which should drop later this year.
Image used with permission from Island Records Australia; credit: James Dryden
Few debuts are as confident as Nyassa’s first single “Ghost”. If she had any nerves recording this number, I can’t detect them. It’s a bold introduction to her talent, with catchy indie-pop hooks and effortless vocals that capture the joy she feels creating her music.
“Making music feels like being in love – you’re in another world, a beautiful one,” Nyassa gushed. “I want to make people feel something that they can’t explain… I naturally put a piece of my soul into my songs.”
Director Richy Sandham and cinematographer Nick Stevens translated Nyassa’s creative vision in the beautiful film clip, shot at South Australia’s Mintaro Maze and historic Martindale Hall (which you may recognise from the classic film Picnic at Hanging Rock).
Something tells me we’ll hear a lot more from Nyassa in the future.
Image used with permission from Island Records Australia; credit: She Is Aphrodite
Naarm/Melbourne rock act Catholic Guilt usher in a new era today with the release of their latest single “Live For the Rush.” It’s the first song from the band’s sophomore album, due later this year, and the first featuring new guitarist and vocalist Megan Sidwell. Some bands have teething issues when they alter the line-up, but Catholic Guilt have never sounded better.
“‘Live For The Rush’ is a song about wanting to feel truly ‘alive’ again, after a prolonged period of emotional paralysis. It is about holding an insatiable desire to experience the sensation of life, yet at the same time living in fear of the risks and changes that might be required to do so,” explained vocalist Brenton Harris. “It is a very human thing to want to feel everything, all at once, to want to explore all that this finite existence can offer, yet it is also a very human thing to want to protect the status quo because the status quo offers the safety and the surety of knowing, even if what we know isn’t providing fulfilment. ’Live For The Rush’ is an anthem about rediscovering the joy of the unknown and in the process learning to feel again.”
This song really strikes a chord to me as I anticipate jetting off to Brisbane next week, taking my first flight since the pandemic began. I’m also really digging the video, which takes us through a day in the life of the cutest sauce bottle around.
“The premise of this video at first glance is silly, funny and kinda weird. But when you delve into the bright, shiny world that Sauce lives in, there’s a whole lot more to it,” explained Sophia van Doorn, who directed the video. “Given that Sauce is depicted in an overly saturated, orange-hued world, their life is a vibrant, action-packed and fulfilling existence. Its stark contrast to the initial band shots of gloomy, lacklustre monotony creates a juxtaposition of light and dark. The band’s jubilant facial expressions upon Sauce’s arrival are the hero of this video and really tie back to the incredible lyrics, uplifting the viewer. It was hilarious running around town shooting the Sauce scenes and the band nailed all their shots in every aspect – the fun and ridiculousness shines through in the video. As a first-time director of a music video, I’m thrilled with the outcome, it looks awesome. Awesomesauce.”
You can see Catholic Guilt’s brand new line-up at the Last Chance Rock N Roll Bar in Naarm/Melbourne on March 3.
