We've rounded up Adelaide's best new music for October, including Lonelyspeck, Sunsick Daisy, Ivy-Lee and Los Palms.
November 10, 2022
Culture
Adelaide’s best new music
Sunsick Daisy – ‘Someone Like You’
Shoegaze is exciting for its ambiguity. Blended instruments and vocals make anything an ethereal, hazy possibility. ‘Someone Like You’, the debut single from four-piece Sunsick Daisy, is the music embodiment of this excitement. The guitars are distended by reverb and distortion, which sounds delightfully like a cassette tape gone wonky. But we’re here for the vocals which cut through the dusty atmosphere like a velvet beam of light. (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.
Hard Rubbish — ‘Something’
Featuring lots of high-hats, friction and car-related imagery – “am I just burning up my luck?” – ‘Something’ invites listeners into frontperson Jason Katsaras’ claustrophobic, colourful world. Although, the song gives us cabin fever, with the ringing chorus: “It’s in my house / It’s in my yard / It’s in my head / It’s in my heart / It’s in my room”, we want to stay for the house party. (AS)
Heinous Crimes – ‘Asperity’
A departure from their earlier material, ‘Asperity’ by alt-rock four-piece Heinous Crimes is dark, brooding, and lyrically untangles the distance between two lovers – despite their being in close proximity (a bed, or on a “cold” empty street). Atypical of post-punk, this song includes a scorching guitar solo, putting it more on the art-rock path. It’s a welcomed, gripping detour. (AS)
The Uglies – ‘Still U.G.L.Y’
The antithesis of a glow-up, ‘Still U.G.L.Y’ is rampant hardcore punk serving as a war cry: this five-piece, who’ve released music since 2015, aren’t slowing down. The track gallops through 1:42 seconds of mayhem. Expect crashing drums, lashing guitars and such a richly expletive-filled chorus that listeners risk raising cholesterol levels by one million per cent. (AS)
Bad//Dreems — ‘Jack’
Maybe sharing a festival lineup (and ‘Blackfella/Whitefella’ cover performance) with King Stingray inspired the South Australian/Victorian pub-rock band Bad//Dreems to release a political song. Or, maybe it was supporting the likes of Midnight Oil overseas. Regardless, ‘Jack’ is an urgent call: white Australia needs to do more for First Nations people. “Sixty thousand years gotta give it back”, snarls vocalist Ben Marwe over and over at the tail-end of the song. But it’s a refrain that should echo ad infinitum. (AS)
Los Palms — ‘Sunday Death Drive’
There is a menacing drive beneath the psychedelic surf rock of ‘Sunday Death Drive’, one of two songs currently available from Los Palms’ upcoming long-player Skeleton Ranch. The song is as wide as a desert highway, throwing a cloud of dust in its wake.(JVE)
hearteyes, Lonelyspeck and cookii – ‘PAINKILLER’
Golden child producer and local tastemaker Lonelyspeck has teamed up with interstate collaborators hearteyes and cookii to release an industrial-tinged electronic hyper-emo-pop ballad, ‘PAINKILLER’. The second song from the fruitful partnership, it is lyrically numbing enough to make your knees buckle. Expect big drops, guitar solos and pitch-shifted singing that melts into oblivion. For fans of Lonelyspeck, wait for the third verse; their angsty singing comes in swinging. (AS)
Levendis — ‘Tides (feat. Ella Sargeant)’
Over a soft and sweet beat from Levendis (the musical moniker of George Sotiropoulos), Ella Sargeant muses on the inability to give up on a person you know is no good for you. The song is pacing and ambient, reminiscent of Four Tet, with a vocal track I could live in for days. (JVE)
Ella Ion — ‘My Own’
Taken from an upcoming album, Waiting, slated for February 2023, Ella Ion’s ‘My Own’ sees the artist wondering why she so often opts to be alone. With production from Bjéar (who’s also responsible for the fuzzy guitar solo), the country-tinged folk rock waltz builds, with punching, expanding drums from Luke Vianello until Ella hits her high emotional peak: “At times I find myself holding on to my own hand”. (JVE)
My Chérie — ‘Holding On’
My Chérie released her EP Healing in October, which the artist describes as a “deep exploration of the process of healing – from late night anxieties and retaliations to the morning sunshine and feeling of contentment”. ‘Holding On’, has a simple lyrical refrain that echoes throughout the song’s three minutes. The song is more a study of mantric production than narrative, evoking sleepless midnights. (JVE)
Ivy-lee — ‘Hope (is a Beautiful Thing)’
There is an incredible bubblegum pop career waiting for Ivy-Lee. ‘Hope’ has sing-songy production, angelic vocals, and some brilliantly odd lyrical turns, revealing a seriously talented artist who doesn’t take herself too seriously: “Up in the sky / where balls of gas/ fill my eyes with/ hope.” And just one more favourite: “Down at the café / order my coffee / swallowed some plastic / and it made me throw up.” So good. (JVE)
Luke Million – ‘Catastrophe’
From the 14-track debut album by Luke Million, ‘Catastrophe’ is a creeping, bassy, electro-pop beauty. Opening with a sci-fi sounding sample (think: an alien coming in for landing), this synthwave moment adds new layers until it bursts with personality. It’s the musical allusion of looming calamity, and one for fans of Kavinsky. (AS)
Barkada — ‘Falling’
More bravado from southern Adelaide hip-hop crew Barkada, who are in the midst of a moment. ‘Falling’ features Wax Off, and again and three minutes of late-night lothario lyricism. (JVE)
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