The 9 incredible Australian artists you need to hear this week
Community radio music directors often have an encyclopedic knowledge of local music and an insatiable thirst to keep their ears ahead of the curve. So in this Tone Deaf series, the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap) invites music directors to highlight new Aussie tunes that you might have missed.
In this edition, Nicholas J. Rodwell and Liz Ansley, music co-ordinators from 4ZZZ in Brisbane, contribute with a selection of tracks currently making their way to community radio through Amrap’s music distribution service ‘AirIt’.
Check out Liz and Nicholas’ selections below and if you’re a musician you can apply here to have your music distributed for free to community radio on Amrap’s AirIt.
This week’s 9 best Australian artists
Settling in between Jess Locke and Angel Olsen, Melbourne songstress, El Tee, produces an electric folk that both is serenely acquiescent and individually resolute. When you let her expand in song, it becomes really engaging. (Nicholas J. Rodwell)
Matthew Armitage – ‘Love From Afar’
Meeting at the crossroads of Taj Mahal and J.J. Cale, Gold Coast’s Matthew Armitage has a hearty grasp on all that comes to shine from holding his guitar when he’d rather be holding the person he loves. It’s a low-key verandah jam and is sure to charm. (Nicholas J. Rodwell)
Every part of this song is a hook and, definitively, I wouldn’t have my power-pop any other way. Sydney’s Bloods have dropped what is essentially 3 parts hook, 1 heaped portion of fuzz and all made with that mysteriously potent element, self-love. It’s juicy and robust, a celebration of momentum. (Nicholas J. Rodwell)
The power in Rebel Yell’s techno is in it’s understated arrangements. Here, with this latest single, Gussy’s contribution to the acidic rumbles and disembodied voices bridges the gap between dance and song structure with a compelling fusion of personal tension, emboldening both artists repertoire. (Nicholas J. Rodwell)
h.eund – ‘Medium Watermelon Crush’
Sydney-based producer Bekkie Kay aka h.eund (say like “haitch-oond”) has been making wonderfully quirky electronica with an unbridled sense of fun for some time now. This fizzing, busy little miniverse is every bit as tangy and delightful as the much-loved juice flavour it’s dedicated to. (Liz Ansley)
Alice Skye – ‘Friends With Feelings’
With lyrics quite literally taken from her diary pages, it’s no wonder preternaturally talented musician Alice Skye’s entire album feels so unspeakably intimate; and its title track is maybe the most affecting of the bunch. Clear, vulnerable and real. (Liz Ansley)
With their jagged guitar riffs, new-wave synth beats and cool-eyed krautrock aesthetic, Sydney-based duo MEZKO more than earn their reputation as one of Australia’s most enthralling up and coming live acts. ‘Come & Go’ is a sickeningly stylish slice of darkwave from the duo, and a really exciting glimpse at their next EP. (Liz Ansley)
Intensely raw and emotional, this blues-pop cut from ARIG’s upcoming debut EP Attrition sees the Eritrean artist find catharsis through the power of self-expression. A true testament to the huge amounts of power that real, visceral emotion can bring to a song. (Liz Ansley)
With an impressive catalogue of jittery, shining work that is as emotionally vulnerable as it is idiosyncratic, Death Club 7 is criminally slept on. ‘Brakes On’, the latest cut from new album Forevernevernever, presents DC7’s slickest pop form so far – definitely the most melodramatically danceable yet, propelled by piano stabs and a bouncing beat. If you grew up loving disco-ball pop and skittering RnB/dance tunes, do yourself a favour and get acquainted. (Liz Ansley)
The article was originally published on Tone Deaf
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