We've rounded up Adelaide's best new music for the month of September, including Groovy Daughter, Naomi Keyte, Jess Day and Ricky Albeck and the Belair Line Band.
November 1, 2021
Culture
Adelaide’s best new music
Wanderers – ‘Nothing in This World’
Whatever the Wanderers are drinking, we want it. Only two months since the duo dropped sun-kissed single ‘Penny’, they’ve released another stomper, ‘Nothing in This World’.
Despite the lyrics being wrapped up in ennui, and that relatable feeling of reliving the same night again and again and again, they’ve managed to make it fun. Just like you, dear reader, we too have wondered how they’ve done it, and we pin it down to three simple facts: that crunchy funk-infused bass riff, dazzling disco keys, and a little bit of Wanderers’ razzle-dazzle. (AS)
Remarks
Listen to this playlist in full on Spotify.
If you’re a South Australian band or musician with a new release, let us know about it.
Hey Harriett — ‘Hearts in the Ocean’
It’s been too long since indie dance rock tracks littered the airwaves, which makes this fun song from Hey Harriett all the more welcome. The band’s frontperson Georgy Rochow sings of the hyper-anxieties of keeping a long-distance relationship together, but you’d never be able to tell from the happy-go-lucky drumbeat and quaint staccato rhythm of the guitar. (JVE)
Jess Day – ‘Naked’
True stans of Puberty Blues will probably puke from excitement when watching the video clip of the chartreuse Jess Day’s new track, ‘Naked’, as Brenna Harding – Sue Knight from the TV series – makes an appearance.
Musically, the single doesn’t veer too far from Jess Day’s usual lovesick lyrical territory. Over dust-covered guitar chords and a relentless bass kick, we’re spun a tale of a protagonist making mistakes and their counterpart unabashedly calling them out for it. Relapse into bad habits, regret it, and repeat. Name a more relatable narrative. (AS)
George Alice — ‘Mid Years’
Despite the singer hitting legal drinking age at a moment when city life, and clubbing in particular, is but a pale cousin to those wilder days when it was legal to both stand, drink and dance simultaneously, George Alice has captured with visceral detail the early highs and crushing lows of a night out. ‘Mid Years’ is a steady bop, and unlike many nights out as an 18-year-old, knows exactly when to end and leave you wanting more. (JVE)
My Cherie — ‘Rose in the Garden’
Opening with a rickety beat and layered vocals, ‘Rose in the Garden’ sees My Cherie searching for the outlines of the world she is only just starting to inhabit on her own, charting the process of self-discovery that comes from moving out from the influences of a childhood home. The song was produced and co-written by Benny Tamblyn (Wing Defence), with soaring bridges making for a ‘90s-esque ballad feel. (JVE)
Pink Plastic Bento Factory — ‘Power Lines’
Pink Plastic Bento Factory is described by its founder Jesse Miles as a “musical project and songwriting challenge”, with ‘Power Lines’ being the first release of 12 planned singles that will span many genres. The track blends electro-punk and chiptune influences, with acoustic choruses giving way to digital fuzz as the song builds, Miles’ lyrics all the while drowning in the frenetic production. (JVE)
Annie Bass — ‘Crazy’
Written amid the pandemic and after the end of a relationship, ‘Crazy’ is Annie Bass reflecting on her need to connect and be with people, discovering what deep aloneness really feels like. Despite the theme of isolation, Bass’ soft vocals and layered production from Barnaby Williams (Fortunes., Crippling Fear of Everything) makes for a dance floor-ready ode to connection. (JVE)
Groovy Daughter – ‘I Don’t Care’
Like slipping into a warm bath, ‘I Don’t Care’ is the most recent track released by singer-songwriter Groovy Daughter – real name Nicole Carr – and promises to cocoon you in all the feels.
Upon first listening, there’s a striking resemblance in GD’s vocals to another neo-soul industry icon, Nai Palm of Haitus Kaiyote. But what sets this Canberra-turned-Adelaide singer’s music apart from her contemporary is her gamble with electronic production and pads a bit more, and a referential intimacy.
GD’s lyric-writing is diaristic, with the chorus refrain ‘I don’t care that you left me / Just maybe the lies / I don’t care you hate me / Because you I despise’ sounding inspired from the famous monologue from 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You. It’s clear the Y2K renaissance currently gripping pop culture has permeated into underground music. (AS)
SO.Crates – ‘Fresh Gold Bloom-Age’
You would think the pandemic would slow down hip-hop outfit SO.Crates, with Cazeaux O.S.L.O writing bars from Adelaide and DJ Skomes churning out production from Melbourne. Apparently not.
‘Fresh Gold Bloom-Age’ is five minutes of boom-bap bliss, and comes off the back of another recently released track, ‘Beaut-I-Full World (ft. Zima and Kalala)’. Cazeau O.S.L.O riffs about life’s simplest pleasures – good company and sitting comfortably – while meandering through a very endearing visual narrative about our jump-suit-wearing hero carrying the literal weight of the world on his shoulders, and, unlike Atlas, making it look easy.
Guaranteed grins upon listening. (AS)
Naomi Keyte — Greenhill
Naomi Keyte — Greenhill
There’s so much to love in this softly sung ode to the beautiful quietude of the pandemic, such as Naomi Keyte’s softly sung story of being locked away in a sharehouse with people you love. As much as the song itself captures the feeling of winding down the wilder sections of Greenhill Road, lush greenery on one side and a deep valley leading to the ocean on the other, the associated film clip, shot by George Graetz, with help from Tom Symes and Rosina Possingham, is a love letter to the Adelaide landscapes and spaces so many of us know. (JVE)
Ricky Albeck and the Belair Line Band – ‘Against The Wall’
Do not be maligned Ricky Albeck’s mullet. Lean into it.
‘Against The Wall’ is the latest single dropped ahead of a wider album release from the glorious-haired country-yob-rock musician, and features all the right hallmarks of good Western swing. Strings – check. Vocal harmonies – check. A ballad about the sad and bad times – check.
This song is best enjoyed while blaring down a highway, on the way to a pub, in a rattling four-wheeled drive. It’s Tex Perkins with a Down South lean. (AS)
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