Born from a one-minute voice note, ioakim’s latest single “alltimefan” is a total bop. I love its upbeat poppy feel and relatable lyrics about infatuation and that natural human tendency to project onto people that turn our heads.
“‘alltimefan’ was the first song I made in LA with Jackson Phillips (Day Wave) in 2022. It is about drawing up a preconceived idea of someone before you have met them,” ioakim explained. “There’s a lot you can know about someone before you meet them in real life so you have a pretty good idea if you’re going to get along. This song ended becoming reality a month or so later. Life is weird”.
When it results in music this good, I’m all for the weird! Something tells me we’ll be hearing a lot more from ioakim in the future.
I’ve held off for as long as I could. As a Eurovision tragic, I always try to wait for the competition to hear the songs. I want them all to be fresh for me. But I caved. I couldn’t help but listen to “One Milkali (One Blood)”, our entry this year from the one and only Electric Fields. I am properly on board. It’s a disco dance banger, but it’s also got a powerful message about connection with the world around us. And how exciting to hear a didge and some native language in our entry! Talk about representation.
“We are buzzed with euphoria at our chance to share this music with the world,” the duo said. “Our music comes from the deepest place in both of us and Eurovision is the most exciting opportunity to bring together our cultures and share the joy of our global connection.”
Make sure you don’t miss Electric Fields doing our country proud when SBS airs the Eurovision Song Contest from May 8 to 12.
As they prepare to release their sixth album, Angus & Julia Stone might just be making some of the best music of their careers. Their music has always been chilled, but sometimes it veered too close to sleepy territory for my taste. With their new music, they’ve definitely got the balance right. Their latest single “Cape Forestier” comes hot on the heels of “The Wedding Song,” and it’s every bit as good.
“‘Cape Forestier’ is about a boat on a journey. I suppose it speaks to the journey we’re all on in our lives—the comings and goings of love, loss, pain, and moving towards new horizons,” they explained. “We spent a lot of our childhood on and in the water. Elements of nature are lyrically and mythically important in our writing. The ebb and flow of tides, the changing cycles—nature so often helps us to understand our inner world. This is a very personal song to us, so we’ve chosen to share some unseen footage in the music video from the start of our time together making music in the living room at home to where we are now.”
“Cape Forestier” is the title track of Angus & Julia Stone’s new album, which drops on May 10. Remember they’re also playing intimate shows around the world to support its release, so if you haven’t already got your tickets, what are you waiting for?
After a brief hiatus, Tarntanya/Adelaide alt-rock act Choosing Sides are back in action with a new single, “Penelope.” It’s an anti-love song which explores feelings of desire and delusion.
“Penelope is a continuation of the narrative that began in our single ‘Cardboard Seats’,” explained the band’s lead singer Will Wright. “After escaping the city from a supernaturally toxic relationship – our character is fractured by his desire to hear from Penelope despite all the negativity she brought into his life. Whilst Penelope’s curses and evil ways drove our protagonist out of town, he still has a sadistic addiction to hearing her ringtone, her voice, and her coarse language.”
The supernatural plot the band imagined comes to life in the song’s music video. This is a great return to form from Choosing Sides. Hopefully they won’t leave us waiting so long for the next one!
There are few things I enjoy more than some angry girl music. I have a love-hate relationship with the term, because it feels so reductive, but no one has coined anything better for that incredible music that sees women venting their frustrations. Artists like Alanis Morisette and Tori Amos were so influential in my formative years, and I love that there seems to be a renaissance thanks to talents like Olivia Rodrigo, Gayle, and Noah Cyrus. While those big American talents grab the headlines, Aussies aren’t sleeping on the movement. The latest to pique my interest is EDIE, who’s not holding anything back with her new single “Villain.”
“‘Villain’ explores post-heartbreak frustration and the selfish desire for your ex to feel the same pain as you do,” EDIE explained. “This song highlights how sometimes you have to make someone the villain to be able to move on.”
The music video is also stellar, but not for the faint hearted. If blood makes you squeamish, you might want to look away. You have been warned!
Naarm/Melbourne rapper DL continues to celebrate the special women in his life with the release of “Dear Ma (Love in Return)”, a sweet salute to his mother. The track sees DL joining forces with local singer-songwriter Rowie J, whose soulful vocals provide the perfect foil for his flow.
You might remember DL dropped the track “LOVE” in 2021 to pay tribute to his wife and daughters. I love hearing him share more about the special relationships in his life. His brand of positive hip hop really goes against the grain. There’s certainly a place for rap which explores people’s challenges, but it’s wonderful to hear music like this that lifts you up to provide a bit of balance.
What do you do when you discover your man has been two-timing you? Well if you’re Lucy Gallant, and you discover the other woman is fellow creative Ladi Abundance, you join forces and write a song about it. Their new neo-soul single “Mr” explores their collective feelings of hurt and betrayal along with their newfound bound.
“Obviously this was an awkward and challenging situation to find ourselves in, and we chose to channel the hurt into something positive and powerful,” Lucy said.
This track is a bit of a slow burner, but just wait until you get to the chorus. When that groove sets in and Lucy and Ladi’s voices combine, it’s absolute magic.
Boorloo/Perth-based indie-pop/rock act King Ibis have got my toes tapping with their latest single “Cooling Embers.” This song is just so effortlessly cool, with killer vocals from Nadene Burchell.
She says “‘Cooling Embers’ is about feeling disillusioned with pursuing a career as an artist and the moments of uncertainty. It also is about the drive to continue finding the things that make me feel inspired and connected to the people I get the opportunity to share the experience with.”
King Ibis have been doing big things in their home city, including opening for Coldplay late last year. Now music lovers on the other side of the country get the chance to see what they’re all about with their first East Coast tour kicking off tonight. That’s right Meeanjin/Brisbane, cancel all your plans because you won’t want to miss them!
Absolute force of nature Grace Cummings has just released “Common Man,” a fantastic bluesy number about daring to be different.
“This song is about being a colourful bird and never, ever wanting to be a pigeon,” she said. “Somebody I used to know wrote a song called common man about working nine to five and coming home and having a cup of tea and going to bed and it made me want to have a fucking panic attack. I wish I could tell people it was about riding off into the distance on the back of a white horse with a Cowboy in Austin Texas, but it’s not.”
“Common Man” is the latest single from Grace’s new album Ramona, which will be released on April 5. She’s just announced a string of headlining shows in the United States. After that she’ll head to the United Kingdom and Europe to play her own dates and support King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, but hopefully she’ll be back on home soil really soon.
When life starts getting on top of me, I can always count on the right music to calm me. If the daily grind is wearing you down too, make sure you listen to “As Well As I Do,” the beautiful debut single from Eora/Sydney singer-songwriter Lorenzo Guevarra. It’s a gorgeous acoustic folk number inspired by watching two uni friends in a volatile relationship realising they were better off apart.
“The song was written on acoustic guitar and has seen little change over the years,” Lorenzo said. “At the time of writing, I was obsessed with Passenger and loved his way of fingerpicking the melodic lines of his songs before the words came in … At the time of recording I was listening heavily to Damien Rice’s My Favourite Faded Fantasy record and drew some inspiration from its production, particularly the orchestral arrangement of the tracks. The string section ideas came organically as we kept replaying what we had. The song’s melody left much space to experiment so we didn’t have to force anything.”
Debut singles are rarely this strong. Rest assured, Lorenzo is definitely one to watch.
Photo credit: Tom Southey
