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Mess Esque unveil the dreamy track ‘Let Me Know You’ ahead of new album release. – Backseat Mafia
It’s been just over three years since Mess Esque – the stunning collaboration between Helen Franzmann (McKisko) and Mick Turner (Dirty Three, Tren Brothers) – released their self-titled album (see my review here), and a follow-up entitled ‘Jay Marie, Comfort Me’ is due for release on 28 March 2025 through Drag City Records and Remote Control Records. As a taster of what’s to come, a dreamy new single ‘Let Me Know You’ has been released today. Including the devotional stark lyrics let me lick your armpit, the new single from Mess Esque is an exquisite raw and unadorned track that floats simply on a bed of synths, absent of guitars or percussion, like a silken veil…
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Call the ‘Deviant Hotline’ – it’s Low Monroe with a deliciously dark and visceral track, with launch date announced. – Backseat Mafia
Low Monroe – the nom de plume of multi-instrumentalist and producer Mark Sergi – has just released a deliciously dark slice of gothic fuzz in the form of ‘Deviant Hotline’. With reverb-soaked, scything guitars and a rhythm section that prowls like a ravenous wolf, the track has a late night/early morning sleazy nightclub vibe filled with excess and bacchanalia, full of worn regret and a dissolute debauchery. Peering through a distorted glass filled with absinthe and desire, it’s a gothic apparition dressed in red velvet finery that seduces you and leaves you gasping. Low Monroe says: ‘Deviant Hotline’ was a song that I had such clear direction for story-wise. It…
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Church Tongue Release New EP ‘You’ll Know It Was Me’, Listen To Title Track (Feat George Clarke Of Deafheaven) – Backseat Mafia
Midwest band Church Tongue have today released the EP ‘You’ll Know It Was Me’, with a focus track of the same name, featuring George Clarke (Deafheaven). Listen to the EP here Speaking of the track, singer Mike Sugars says: “I literally can’t believe George is on this song. He gave one of my favourite vocal performances I’ve ever heard. This is it—the title track. The centrepiece, if you will. There’s callbacks in this song to older tracks of ours, and if you’ve stuck around with us and put the pieces together, this song really does our past material justice and gives peace to those tracks. I knew going into this I wanted the songs to be about…
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Merpire has a ‘Premonition’ – a deliciously yearning and romantic track, ahead of live appearance. – Backseat Mafia
It’s been four years since we reviewed Merpire‘s last official release, the album ‘Simulation Ride’, and the Naarm/Melbourne-based award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter (the nom-de-plume of Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt) is back with a new single ‘Premonition’. Merpire’s yearning style and velvet soft vocals remains to the fore in this silky smooth track, filled with a languorous dreamy atmosphere ripe for release on Valentine’s Day. The song is built on an aquatic synth riff with a driving insistent beat and chiming guitars, expressing a charming romantic melancholy: There’s a pull in my skinTo show you where you’ve not beenIt’s all I think about Merpire says of the track: I was reading my first…
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Eora/Sydney artist Milly McPherson releases the soaring track ‘Milly’s Song’ ahead of debut album and live date – Backseat Mafia
‘Milly’s Song’ from solo Eora/Sydney artist Milly McPherson is a soaring anthem that showcases her velvet vocals and passionate, expressive songwriting skills. Sung over a dappling acoustic guitar introduction, the song slowly builds to a crescendo with a chorus of heavenly angels in the background. The lyrics clearly have an autobiographical content, expressed with a level of defiance and confidence, with an ebb and flow that is cathartic and sparkling. The production is as expansive as the bright blue skies over Australia: leading to a stunning denouement that is a pulse-quickening anthem. There are clearly huge things in store for this rising artist. ‘Milly’s Song’ is out now and can…
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Meanjin/Brisbane’s Zanna Black unveils the gorgeously evocative track ‘This Town’ – a glorious, ethereal paean to dispossession and loss. – Backseat Mafia
Meanjin/Brisbane singer/songwriter Zanna Black is releasing a gloriously ethereal track ‘This Town’ tomorrow and we are inordinately honoured to bring you an early listen. ‘This Town has a delicate, fey delivery, filled with a whimsical whirl that is enticing and transfixing. Black’s voice dances through the ether, drenched in a yearning melancholia, a bed of strings providing a comforting iridescent glow. There is a gentle tone reminiscent of Christina Perri, and yet imbued with an antipodean sunshine that sparkles in the sunlight. Fittingly, the accompanying video is awash with shimmering sunshine and rolling waves as Black and her band performs – a deep geographical connection to the landscapes and the…
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Yagki drops fearless new track ‘Adults’ – Backseat Mafia
YAGKI is back, and she’s pulling no punches. The Lebanese-Australian pop-rock artist has unleashed her latest single, ‘Adults’—an expansive, emotionally charged anthem produced by Yianni Adams (Betty, Kyoshi). Opening with swirling synths and a gut-punch of a first line, ‘Adults’ is an unflinching dive into power imbalances, personal reckoning, and the scars left behind. The track builds with cinematic grandeur, weaving introspective verses into euphoric, tension-fuelled choruses that rise and shatter like a tidal wave. Speaking to The Music, YAGKI reflected on her turbulent past—bullied at school, living in a women’s refuge, and ultimately finding salvation in music. ‘Adults’ details a relationship she had at 17 with her former university…
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Duo Cari Cari sign to Australian label Civilians and announce album ‘One More Trip Around The Sun’ with the ethereal title track unveiled as a taster. – Backseat Mafia
The new single ‘One More Trip Around The Sun’ from Australian duo Cari Cari is an ethereal, hypnotic sonic kaleidoscope that floats in the ether like a delicate silken veil. There is a clattering percussive bed over which dreamy vocals and instruments create a psychedelic hue that is mesmerising and luscious. The song deals with themes of family, connection, and enduring values – a heartfelt love letter to close friends and a reminder to remain anchored in authenticity amidst life’s demands. There are elements of Screamadelica-era Primal Scream, a touch of The Kills and a slight shoegaze tinge that permeates the track. Out today and available here, ‘One More Day…
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Jim Ghedi Shares Track – Sheaf & Field; First Album In Four Years – Backseat Mafia
Sheffield’s Jim Ghedi has shared a new single entitled ‘Sheaf & Field’ taken from his new album in four years ‘Wasteland’ due out on the 21st of February via Basin Rock. On his new album ‘Wasteland’, Jim Ghedi has created something huge. Intense, brooding, bold, at times apocalyptic, and remarkably vast. A profoundly bold sonic statement that is some of the most rich, far-reaching and ambitious work that Ghedi has created to date – pushing the boundaries of what what folk music can be in 2025. It features members of Lankum, Landless and Cinder Well. ‘Wasteland’ is a record that is unafraid to plunge into the darkness of the modern…
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Eora/Sydney band KRYSTAL RIVVERS release the thrilling, anthemic track ‘Sienna’ ahead of live dates. – Backseat Mafia
Eora/Sydney band KRYSTAL RIVVERS have today released their sparkling new single ‘Sienna’, confirming a very exciting presence. Coasting on a jingle jangle bedrock, the track sparkles with a vitality as Boon Wurrung/Wurundjeri storyteller and lead singer Earl Weir’ vocal’s enter, deep and sonorous, an enigmatic delivery with an angelic chorus in the distance. The anthemic track reminds me of Naarm/Melbourne band Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird: a big band sound with a thrilling cinematic scope that positively shimmers like the stars in the firmament. Weir says of the track: The story’s foundation is the poetry; we’ve used tones and energetic shifts to bring that to life. Through that basis, I…
