We listen to a lot of music here at Tone Deaf HQ, and we’re the first to admit we’re perhaps a little biased towards sounds of the Australian variety. We do make the best music in the world, after all.
In honouring our favourite Aussies, we’ve once again compiled a list of the most outstanding local releases you should be listening to right now – whether they’re smaller indies acts or big-name essentials, these are the newest Australian records you should be adding to your ‘must-listen’ list.
Let’s get started.
Oscar Key Sung – Altruism (Warner)
Melbourne’s Oscar Key Sung has been moving bodies and making hearts swoon for more than half a decade across a number of different monikers. From his early work with The Harpoons’ Martin King as Oscar + Martin, to his duo Brothers Hand Mirror with local rapper HTML flowers, all the way through to his latest smooth house venture with best pal András (FKA Andras Fox) as Andras & Oscar, Key Sung’s sonic output has been remarkably consistent over the years. But right now the focus is on his solo project, and the singer-producer’s new EP Altruism is his most polished, matured release to date.
Oscar Key Sung’s sentimental pop-skewed R&B at times resembles Drake at his most emotional, Justin Timberlake at the height of FutureSex/LoveSounds, or Jeremih on Shlohmo beat. But Key Sung doesn’t have a team of in-house producers, or Timberland at the top of his game, to orchestrate his production, and perhaps Altruism’s greatest achievement is the spotlight it places on Key Sung’s skills as a producer. For instance, surprise highlight ‘Inside Job’ is a short-but-menacing one-minute 41-second instrumental that might be the most exciting dance cut to come out of Melbourne this year, throbbing with stretchy elastic beats, knife-sharp synths, and sinister Fatima Al Qadiri-esque atmospherics. From the similarly dark cut ‘Premonition’ to brighter, colourful tracks like ‘Brush’ and ‘Light’, Oscar flexes his dance sensibilities (have you seen him vogue IRL?) stronger than ever before, and sculpts his own brand of “bangers” that are heavy, tense, and deliberately off-centre.
Of course, his vocals are as smooth and sincere as ever before, even if they share more room with the production than they have in the past. Whether he’s crooning the particularly brilliant feminist hook on ‘Brush’ or getting up close and intimate on the EP’s closing ballad, ‘Altruism’, Key Sung reminds us that beneath his newly more club-focussed sound, he’s still the heartfelt singer we’ve always known.
Altruism cements Oscar Key Sung as Melbourne’s resident posterboy of R&B, and now it makes the wait for his long overdue debut LP all the more excruciating. (Dylan McCarthy)
River Yarra – Rain Dance Extended Play (Solitaire Recordings)
The worldly deep house of Melbourne’s River Yarra sounds like it should be named after a body of water much more exotic than the Yarra – but that’s only if you know the river primarily for its gross, suspiciously green form outside the tourist central of South Bank.
21-year-old producer Raudie McLeod grew up in Eltham, where the Yarra remains peaceful and unpolluted by a capitalist casino chain. You can hear the influence nature still has on McLeod in his lush, earthly dance cuts. In fact, it’s often physically etched into his soundscapes. On ‘The Look’, you can hear samples of kookaburras laughing, rocks being thrown into ponds, and sticks being hit to create authentic tribal rhythms. It’s a breath of fresh air.
Elsewhere on the rising producer’s excellent debut EP Rain Dance, he serves up sophisticated cosmopolitan disco on the aptly-titled ‘Moonlight Disco’, and amps up the tempo again for the smooth jazz-inspired house track, ‘Rain Dance’.
There’s a lot going on in these offerings besides just a thumping dance pulse – though that is, of course, integral to the River Yarra’s purpose. McLeod expertly weaves together spliced up vocal samples, melodic strings, nature sounds and 80s analogue synths with beautifully opulent results.
River Yarra’s astral aesthetic is really unlike anything else out there at the moment. If the EP launch two weekends ago at The Mercat was anything to go by, it’s going to be a bright future for this promising newcomer. (DM)
Hiatus Kaiyote – Choose Your Weapon (Sony)
When the Grammys took notice of Hiatus Kaiyote and their single ‘Nakamarra’ (from 2012’s debut record Tawk Tomahawk) for Best R&B performance, everyone was surprised except maybe for those who had seen this uniquely special act bestowing their funk-soul wisdom at venues and festivals across Melbourne years prior. The four-piece are back with their highly anticipated sophomore album, Choose Your Weapon, and it sees the psychedelic fusion outfit returning to their craft as if the world wasn’t watching them more closely this time around.
Weighing in at a huge 18 tracks, Choose Your Weapon is an enormous record, quantity wise, but the quality is there to match their ambitious scope. The band’s electrifying frontwoman Nai Palm, who now counts Erykah Badu as her BFF, returns to the helm of their energetically skittish soul soundscapes.
From the downtempo oozing jazz of ‘Jekyll’ to the heavier groove of ‘Swamp Thing’, or the experimental flickering electronica of ‘Atari’ and the yoga-like meditation of ‘Breathing Underwater’, Hiatus Kaiyote jump across an array of different styles – often a handful in the space of one song.
Choose Your Weapon is a stunning victory lap for this acclaimed Melbourne outfit. Forget the Grammys – Nai Palm and her crew exist on a much higher plane.
In Hearts Wake – Skydancer (UNFD)
In Hearts Wake have spent the past year of their lives living in secrecy. A project years in the making, the band clandestinely revealed their latest album, Skydancer, using a secret booklet planted in their previous record, Earthwalker. What ensued was a sort of DIY viral marketing campaign that Australian bands are sure to emulate for years to come (they’ll be doing themselves a favour if they do). Of course, this all begs the question, is the album any good?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is that Skydancer is proof that Aussie bands still have ambition. A concept album dealing with the idea of the “divine masculine”, opening track ‘Aether’ invites you into a sprawling soundscape characterised with a seamless marriage of harsh and clean vocals, each deftly used to epic effect, punishing riffs, crisp drums, and infectious leads. Skydancer scarcely lets the listener take a breath but keeps you coming back for more. (Greg Moskovitch)
Forest Falls – Hounds (Independent)
Forest Falls – Hounds
“Our process is really collaborative: six opinions are catered for and everyone’s vision is slightly varied,” the Melbourne indie pop outfit recently told The AU Review. Indeed, throughout Hounds, the band’s new EP, one can distinctly recognise the sound of six different voices uniting in harmony. The album is “busy” in the best kind of way, peppered with considered and nuanced instrumentation throughout, pianos trill, drums bounce, guitars gently weep, and vocals croon.
Somehow, the result is anything but cacophonous. Laying siege to the idea of a horse designed by committee, Hounds, superbly produced by ARIA Award winner Wayne Connolly (best known for his work with the likes of similarly ethereal locals like Paul Dempsey, Josh Pyke, and Cloud Control), not only sounds good, it feels good too. Diverging from the surface tensions of fellow vest-clad folksters like Mumford & Sons, Hounds displays depth and deft lyricism. (GM)
The Vendettas – Bystander And Destroyer (Warner)
“I wouldn’t say that we have changed direction completely, but due to the fact that we have gotten older and have taken on some different influences, we have progressed musically,” The Vendettas’ vocalist and guitarist Jared Mattern recently told X-static.
On Bystander And Destroyer, the sophomore release from rock outfit The Vendettas, the band are still very much rock and roll but some of their new tracks “have just gone into some lighter areas”.
As Mattern explains: “Our last album was our first one, so it was our first effort, and a first effort for a few of us of recording at all, so there was the tendency to act on more of an individual basis, but this time we acted more as a band.”
It’s a logical step forward for the Melbourne troupe, and one that fans will appreciate.
