We've rounded up Adelaide's best new music for August, including A.B. Original, Jackulson, Coldwave and Natasha Bianca.
September 1, 2022
Culture
Adelaide’s best new music
Marlon x Rulla – ‘Unceded’
Urgent and necessary, ‘Unceded’ forces listeners to wrestle with the racism many Indigenous people face on a daily basis: “I found an alias for our country Australia / Hypocritical, inconsiderate failures,” the duo, Marlon Motlop and Rulla Kelly Mansel, spit over a bed of electrically charged hip-hop and acoustic soul. ‘Unceded’ is an exemplar of what these proud First Nation boys have garnered a strong reputation for – making music that matters. (AS)
Remarks
Listen to this playlist on Apple Music or Spotify.
If you’re a South Australian band or musician with a new release, let us know about it.
A.B. Original – ‘King Billy Cokebottle’
Strong and staunch, A.B. Original’s first song in four years, ‘King Billy Cokebottle’, is another compulsory listen. Over a cocktail of fat beats, Trials and Briggs skilfully travel through time by dropping references to cringy, contemporary White Saviour social media moments (“The Black tiles done backfired”) and historically racist (but for the most part shamefully accepted) performances by comedian Louis Beers, the song’s namesake and voice in the opening sample. Although this was a disgusting moment in Australian history, racism still reverberates through to attitudes now, as demonstrated in bars like “Why the fuck would I welcome the oppressor / When four out of five say we’re lesser?” (AS)
Sacredd – ‘Yankees’
The opening track of rapper Sacredd’s newest six-track EP Sanctified is hard, unapologetic and acerbic. Stuffed with horns, big bars and energy, ‘Yankees’ is stunting. (AS)
SASCHANIGHT — ‘Lazy’
Producer SASCHANIGHT (real name Alex Moore) has disappeared of social media, so it’s difficult to say much more about them other than you need to hear this 2am club-ready track, which features rapper Lxdxp. (JVE)
John Ford – ‘Crawling Mist’
New techno heater ‘Crawling Mist’ is onomatopoetic. With a pounding perennial baseline, the track by John Ford – aka Michael Ellingford of post-punk group The Condos – will slither into your subconscious and lodge itself there. A song to drive really fast to. (AS)
Natasha Bianca — ‘Not Ur Friend’
I am an unabashed lover of thank u, next, Ariana Grande’s 2019 record. If you are too, this latest one from Natasha Bianca hits every note you love on that release (except maybe this one) in one song. The production is playful, and Natasha is self-assured while rebuking a relationship that has gone off the rails. (JVE)
Sunny Jordine ft. For The Florist – ‘nadir’
I have a theory that the best lyricism can be found in rap. Single ‘nadir’ by Sunny Jordine featuring For The Florist is testament to this. The pair’s juxtaposing, razor-sharp flow, flanked by smoky soul-laced instrumentals, make this a brutally beautiful hip-hop track. Both rappers have their own style, but occasionally meet in the middle of a glittering Venn diagram through their adroit use of allegorical moments. (AS)
https://soundcloud.com/noah-jj/nadir
Divebar Youth – ‘In The Hive’
Self-described as “hyper punk zombie disco”, the heady amalgamation of industrial electro-pop heard ‘In The Hive’ smacks of Die Antwoord affectations. Moving between rap breakdowns and dance-floor filler, the song is busy. The video clip is equally bewildering, with the viewer taken on a joyride with a group of disaffected youths oscillating between storming a warehouse and raving. This track refuses to be pigeonholed. (AS)
Jackulson – ‘Star Shapes Hurt Me’
Dark wave is having a moment. The fifth track from emerging musician Jackulson’s latest body of work Blue Diamond Hell is turbo, turbulent and clever. The combination of blast beats and staccato voice samples gives it a nu-metal edge, but the breakneck speed makes this lyrically sad song raveworthy. The 30-second outro, filled with scintillating lo-fi guitars, softens the blow. (AS)
Horror My Friend — ‘Spiral Stairs’
A more measured release from alt-rockers Horror My Friend, with their usual frenetic chaos reined in, allowing for a broader soundscape to expand in the choruses. There is no less energy, but noticeably more control in their craft. (JVE)
Jess Day — ‘Seven’
There’s pop-punk vibes on Jess Day’s latest single, a move away from the less polished pop we’ve seen from the artist previously. The production is super crisp and there’s more confidence in her vocal delivery. Jess Day has an EP on the horizon, The Lovers (Reversed). We’re not sure what version of Jess Day we’ll get on the record, but, going on the professionalism of ‘Seven’, it’s undoubtedly going to solidify her as an artist to watch at the national level. (JVE)
Nuclear Family — ‘Looming’
A sweet and slow-moving slice of indie pop, ‘Looming’ is the first single to come from Nuclear Family’s debut EP, Collecting Dust, which is due for release in late September. What begins as a quiet meditation on the monotony of everyday life builds ever so gradually to a trumpet-infused crescendo – the sort not seen since the twee-indie days of the early 2010s. It’s a beautiful four minutes. (JVE)
Coldwave — ‘Buster’
There is menace from the moment ‘Buster’ explodes in its rush of guitars and drums, through the airier verses to its final faltering splash of open hi-hat. The pulsing bass hits like anxiety, the searching guitar lines like the incessant noise of self-talk, while singer Harrison Evans moves from calm and conversational to lost composure with little predictability. It’s an exciting sound we’re set to hear more of in Coldwave’s upcoming debut EP, which, though no release date has been hinted at, we’re promised is on its way. (JVE)
Workhorse — ‘Rode a River’
Harriet Fraser-Barbour is ghostly on Workhorse’s recent album, No Photographs, released in August, but there’s something different about ‘Rode a River’. The singer drops an octave and invites a lo-fi drum machine to keep the beat, while still hitting the aural hallmarks of riding through a wild western landscape. (JVE)
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