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Pale Waves / Swim School – The Foundry, Sheffield 10.10.2024 – Backseat Mafia
Pale Waves delivered a captivating performance at Sheffield’s Foundry on 10th October 2024, as part of their UK tour supporting their latest album Smitten. The venue was nearly sold out, with a packed audience giving the band a warm and enthusiastic reception. The setlist drew heavily from Smitten, with highlights including the lead single “Perfume,” the upbeat “Kiss Me Again,” and “Gravity.” The band also treated the crowd to older hits like “Television Romance” and “She’s My Religion,” balancing their new romantic, alt-pop sound with their earlier pop-punk influences. Singer/guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie offered the crowd a chance to vote between “Red” and “Unwanted” for a live play, with “Red” winning…
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Experimental jazz musician Arooj Aftab UK/EU Tour In Support of New Album ‘Night Reign’ – Backseat Mafia
Arooj Aftab releases her new album, ‘Night Reign’, on Verve Records, with a visualizer for the project’s focus track, ‘Aey Nehin’. ‘Night Reign’ is the follow up to Aftab’s critically acclaimed label debut Vulture Prince. Anticipatory singles from the album include ‘Whiskey‘, released earlier this month, and ‘Raat Ki Rani‘, whose music video was directed by actress Tessa Thompson and garnered praise from NPR, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and many more with both singles scoring placements on Spotify’s New Music Friday and Apple Music’s New Music Daily. Check out the track Aey Nehin, below: Aftab makes the night the focus of her latest nine-song collection. Entirely in her own voice and through her own story, she delves into the multifaceted, bold and fascinating…
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Sky McKee Returns With Reflective New Single ‘Anita (I’m Losing)’ – Backseat Mafia
Singer-songwriter Sky McKee is back with his latest single, Anita (I’m Losing), continuing his tradition of deeply personal and reflective songwriting. Known for his signature blend of bedroom folk and acoustic pop, McKee’s new track taps into themes of loss, resilience, and the hope that follows—common threads in his emotionally resonant catalog. Inspired by one of McKee’s mother’s lifelong friends, Anita (I’m Losing) dives into the emotional toll of losing cherished relationships and the often harsh reality of unmet expectations. As McKee explains, “I always wanted an Anita in my life, but I can’t stop losing them. This song is about coming to grips with the fact that things will…
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Glasgow Indie Risers The Rooks Share Infectious New Single ‘Renegade’ – Backseat Mafia
Ahead of their anticipated show opening for Blossoms at Glasgow’s O2 Academy on Saturday 19th October, Glasgow indie-rock five-piece The Rooks release their infectious new single ‘Renegade’. Despite being only their second release to date, ‘Renegade’ shows a band rapidly mastering their craft, with a sound that feels both polished and commercially viable, yet full of raw energy. ‘Renegade’ opens as the tight, groovy bassline locks in with punchy, driving drums, laying the foundation for rich, layered guitars to sweep over the track. Front and centre is the emotive, husky lead vocal that adds a sense of grit and heart to the mix. It’s this blend of textures that gives…
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lutruwita/Tasmania’s Party in the Paddock Festival announces stunning line up for 2025 including Empire of the Sun, Aurora, A .Swaye and the Ghosts and Amyl and the Sniffers – Backseat Mafia
From humble origins of a few-hundred-people-party, local bands and a hay bale stage, to evolving into Tasmania’s largest multi-day camping festival – Party In The Paddock (PITP) has just revealed its line-up for 2025. Taking place at Quercus Park on tilapangka/Liffey River, in lutruwita/Tasmania, on Palawa/Tasmanian Aboriginal country, the festival will run from 6-9 February 2025. Given the many documented challenges facing the music industry at the moment, this promises to be something quite spectacular. The stunning full line up (with one UK special secret headliner) includes: Amyl & The Sniffers, Angie McMahon, Role Model (USA), Still Woozy (USA), ‘Secret Act’ (UK), The Rubens, Thelma Plum, King Stingray, Slowly Slowly,…
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South London’s Lex Vervain shows us his ‘Favourite Song’ in a sparkling debut. – Backseat Mafia
We’ve met Lex Vervain before: he is in fact the South East London, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter Alex Parry who last visited us in the form of LXP (see my review of the debut EP here). Parry however does not confine himself to a single musical lane. Lex Vervain is a parallel project that explores a more traditional indie path (influenced by artists such as Elliott Smith, Bedouine and Alex G) and his debut single under this moniker is the jingle jangle sparkle of ‘Favorite Song’. Ringing out on a pattering bed of percussion, the guitars shimmer under Parry’s velvet yearning vocals. Parry’s production skills are on show as many layers…
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Is PJ Harvey Heading Downunder? – Backseat Mafia
Get ready, Australia. PJ Harvey, the woman who has consistently rewritten the script on what it means to be an artist, just dropped a quiet bombshell on her Instagram. A simple post, cryptic yet thrilling—inviting fans to sign up to a mailing list ahead of an announcement that’s got us all on edge. No frills, no excess, just a call to be ready. You can practically hear the ripple of excitement across the country. If you know, you know. Something big is coming, and like always, PJ’s setting the stage her way. PJ Harvey is a sonic shapeshifter who has spent decades defying expectation and dismantling boundaries. From the jagged…
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An energetic and explosive jazz fusion calling card. – Backseat Mafia
Given that their name links back to their student beginnings during lockdown in a bedroom-come-practice space full of houseplants, Plantfood’s music is not what you’d describe as pastoral. This tight collective that formed in Leeds around 2020 seem intent to bust into the UK nu-jazz arena and beyond with their energetic fusion of punk jazz, rap and dance sensibilities. Their first major calling card after a flurry of singles, the album ‘Carnivores’ has just hit the shelves and in line with the quizzical title (given the band name) it’s got plenty of bite. Opener Eclipse is a widescreen ride, with the twin sax dynamism of Joe van der Meulen and…
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SXSW Sydney 2024 Launches with Global Talent and Energy – Backseat Mafia
SXSW Sydney cracked open its doors today, unleashing over a thousand events, panels, and experiences, with creatives and innovators flooding in from more than 40 countries. Sydney is staking its claim as the Asia-Pacific’s epicentre for global networking, collaboration, and creativity, as the city pulses with energy. The conference is housed across three core venues: ICC Sydney, Novotel Darling Square, and UTS Building 8—a tight triangle of thought leadership and artistic vision. Strolling through Sydney’s ICC, you’re immediately swept into a buzzing ecosystem of creativity. There’s a pulse here, a quiet urgency in the air. A cluster of dancers huddle in front of a towering mirror, their reflections sharp as…
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Jerry Cantrell Shares One Final Sneak Peek Of Forthcoming Album ‘I Want Blood’ – Backseat Mafia
Jerry Cantrell’s highly-anticipated new album, ‘I Want Blood,’ arrives next Friday, with one final sneak peek with the release of the album’s title track. “There’s a confidence to this album,” Cantrell explains. “I think it’s some of my best writing and playing and certainly some of my best singing. There are large chunks of this record where I felt like my face was pressed to the ceiling of my abilities, operating at the top of my capacity.” The four-minute-plus track opens with a menacing bass line from Duff McKagan, accompanied by Mike Bordin’s building drumbeat, followed by Cantrell’s ominous first words… “I Want Blood.” The song was co-produced, as the album was, by Cantrell…
