Baeden Feint had me at the harmonica opening of his debut single “Hometown Fantasy.” He’s a classic country troubadour, the kind of artist who paints a story with his words and brings it to life with honest vocals. This single is about the little “map dot” where he grew up, the place where he learned to love people and music.
“This song is essentially me reminiscing on past relationships where it seemed everything was laid out. Ready for the white picket fence and kids. But also, that it was like having blinders on, as to whether it was a good thing or not,” he explained. “I wrote this song like a lot of other songs – with a bottle port, smoking alone late at night, with too much time for thinking.”
If you’re into the current wave of American country artists like Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers, I know you’re going to be into this. If you want to hear more, catch Baeden performing at Mount Hope’s The Royal Hotel on March 3.
South African born and Australian raised, queer Eora/Sydney-based singer-songwriter Jordy Burns has made a massive impression on me with her debut single “Walls.” Yes, that’s right, debut single. I want to emphasise that, because this is one of those tracks delivered with such heart and confidence that you’d swear she has an exhaustive back catalogue if you didn’t know better.
“‘Walls’ is about heartbreak and broken trust,” Jordy admitted. “A person I was seeing convinced me that I was safe to open my heart and that they wanted what I wanted. As it turns out, as soon as I let down my guard, they all too quickly realised that they weren’t ready to move on from their last relationship. In saying that, they continued to stay with me and we made a mess of things… it was a rollercoaster, to say the least.”
Jordy will celebrate the release of “Walls” with a hometown show at Tokio Hotel on April 6.
Boorloo/Perth band Mars on Holiday are one of the hottest acts coming out of Western Australia right now. So you might wonder, who are they vibing? They sat down to share their five favorite new acts from their home state, exclusively for Sounds of Oz.
Make sure you check out Mars on Holiday’s new track “We’re Gonna Change,” available on all your favorite streaming services right now. You can also see them support Stem Stellar at Jack Rabbit Slims on March 2.
Between You & Me are one of the best pop-punk acts around, so I’m pretty psyched to hear they’ve got a whole bunch of new music coming our way. They’ve just dropped their latest single “In the Middle,” which offers a taste of what’s in store when they release their new EP SH!T YEAH on April 5.
“‘In The Middle’ is about the realisation that your relationship is over,” said vocalist JT. “The strong joy and excitement you once brought to each other’s lives had been replaced with fighting, bitterness and a complete breakdown in communication. Even despite this, you both yearn for it to work out and dream of the better times. You break up, you get back together, and the cycle continues, despite both recognising you had grown apart as people and the trust for each other was irreparable. The song encapsulates the slow breakdown of a relationship and the acceptance in moving on.”
Between You & Me seem set for global domination. They’re currently playing gigs in the United Kingdom and will head to North America in March to headline shows on the continent for the very first time. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see them back on Aussie soil. Until then, international readers, make sure you check them out at a venue near you.
Jebediah seem to be aging like a fine wine. I wasn’t always a fan of their earlier material, but their latest track “Motivation” is right up my alley. It comes from the Jebs new album OIKS, their first since 2011, which drops on April 12.
“’Motivation’ was a song that came from the initial in studio jam sessions that kick started the process of recording OIKS,” the band said. “At that stage, we didn’t really know what kind of album we were trying to make. We were simply getting together in a room and making noise and seeing what eventuated. Given that ‘Motivation’ came from these sessions, it’s a very ‘band’ sounding song, as opposed to some of the more experimental stuff that came along later during the recording process. It captures the sound of the band playing in a room together and we tried not to embellish it too much. This song is a bit of a band favourite for sure, so we are obviously excited about it being released as a single before the album appears.”
“The video clip is intended to represent the simplicity of the song and the fact that we were trying to capture the raw sound of the band playing in a room together,” they added. “The video was shot in Melbourne by Arlo Cook who has been following us around with a camera since 2015, taking footage at shows all around Australia. We can’t wait for everyone to hear OIKS soon. It was a labour of love that took us five years to complete, often during extremely turbulent times.”
Jebediah has just played Spring Loaded, but I’d be very surprised if we don’t see a few more show announcements when the album’s released. Until then, turn this new single up!
While his next official studio album is some time away, Matt Joe Gow has dropped a special treat for his fans online. Exclusively available online, The Woodshed Sessions is a beautiful collection of Matt’s best loved songs stripped back to their very essence.
This is a live album with a difference. Instead of recording it in front of an audience, Matt recorded the stripped back, acoustic versions of these songs in the studio in just one take. It’s a brilliant idea. While I love the energy of live recordings, the crowd noise can get distracting and the sound quality is often poor. There’s an energy to these songs too, but that comes from the dynamic between Matt and the members of his long-time band The Dead Leaves. You can feel the chemistry as their voices combine in beautiful three-part harmonies. Hearing the way the vocals sat alongside the piano and strumming of an acoustic guitar, I thought this is what music should be. It’s organic and pure, coming from the soul so naturally, free from studio “enhancements” like autotune and drum machines.
If you’ve listened to Matt’s music before, you know these songs are ripe for this kind of treatment. In acoustic mode, their introspective lyrics and perfect melodies come to the fore. If you’re new to Matt’s music, this compilation of career highlights makes the perfect introduction. It’s really like a greatest hits with a beautiful acoustic twist. I can’t wait to hear new music from Matt, but this release will keep me satisfied until that time comes. I’m going to leave you with this video of “Grand Ambition” from The Woodshed Sessions; check it out and I’m sure you’ll want to discover the rest of the tunes. You’ll find The Woodshed Sessions on all your favourite streaming services. If you’d like to purchase a physical CD copy, head to Matt’s Bandcamp page.
Naarm/Melbourne-born and LA-based artist Bobi Andonov has given me chills with his latest release, “Anymore.” His incredible voice wows from the first note, but it’s also an incredible well-crafted pop song. Can you believe he’s never released music using his falsetto before? He’s out here sounding like the love child of Prince and D’Angelo, yet someone managing to avoid being derivative. I’m impressed.
“It was the song that I needed to write. It sucks to love someone whose reasons for your relationship are so much more casual and self-serving than your own needs. The chorus lyric ‘I just can’t do this anymore’, was of those things I always wanted to say but couldn’t,” Bobi admitted. “I wanted to explore a complex, ambiguous, and even poetic lyric with the feel of a Bee Gees like stacked melody, thrown into a stripped, alt/bedroom mix. I loved the exercise of writing an entire hook in high, falsetto harmony. I like the contrast between that and the rougher part of my voice”.
“Anymore” comes from Bobi’s sophomore EP SAINT, which drops on May 9.
Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia
Just over a year after supporting Kota the Friend on his Australian tour, local talent Chanel Loren has released a single featuring the American rapper. “Carelessly Doomed” is a cool alt-pop track that perfectly showcases Chanel’s signature soulful vocals.
“‘Carelessly Doomed’ is an intimate conversation to myself about owning my overthinking and perfectionist tendencies (which I do a lot!). It’s me consciously trying to let things go and accept the process – even if it scares me. I’m in my ‘Que Sera’ era,” Chanel explained. “The feature with Kota The Friend happened really organically. I opened for him on tour at the end of 2022 and we got along super well. Shortly after I started teasing ‘Carelessly Doomed’ and he heard a snippet and immediately DM’d me asking for the instrumental. The rest is history!”
2023 was a massive year for Chanel. She was named an Acclaim All Star, received an ARIA nomination for best soul/R&B release, played Souled Out festival, SXSW Sydney, and The Great Escape in the UK, and also supported IDK, Sudan Archives, and Masego. With this release though, 2024 is shaping up to be even bigger!
Doctor by day, alt-pop/indie artist by night, moonsea is full of surprises. Her latest is “Violins,” a dreamy, romantic ditty that is bound to captivate you.
“I’ve always been the sort of person that falls in love fast and completely. It’s quite the health hazard,” moonsea joked. “With this song, I wanted to take those feelings of infatuation and desperation and ramp them up to the extreme. My idea for the instrumentation was romantic symphony meets indie rock band, and I really love how seamlessly it evolves from one to the other. The last lyric ‘Please look at me!’, pretty much sums up what this song about at its heart; the deep and terrible need to be seen.”
This beautiful single comes with a gorgeous music video, which moonsea filmed on a Sony Handycam in San Diego and her hometown of Naarm/Melbourne, then edited flawlessly. Talk about a creative talent!
Eora/Sydney-based indie-rockers The Buoys have just dropped their emotional new single “Guard My Heart.” With its raw, relatable lyrics and infectious melody, I know you’re going to love this one.
“I think my favourite thing about ‘Guard My Heart’ is how it has shape shifted over time to have several meanings to me personally,” said lead vocalist Zoe Catterall. “Originally written to guide me through my first ever break-up in 2016, over time it became an anthem for the heart-wrenching best friend break-up for me, and the more I listen to it, the more I realise it’s a biiiig hug for when you have to let someone go for better or for worse, to protect your own heart and maybe even theirs too.”
“To me, it’s about reckoning with how to get on with your life in spite of everything feeling irrevocably different post-break-up,” added lead guitarist Hilary Geddes. “We hope it offers comfort and catharsis – there’s space in this song to feel both utterly liberated AND fit in a little cry in the chorus at the same time.”
The Buoys have got stacks of cool gigs on the horizons, including headlining shows and choice festival slots, so make sure you get out and see them when they’re visiting your city.
While his next official studio album is some time away, 
