Tone Deaf and Amrap are back in 2025, bringing you the best Australian music finds from community radio music directors and presenters.
Got music? Get it on Amrap – it’s how community stations find and play local artists. You can also hear the freshest tracks championed by community radio on the Community Radio Plus App, bringing stations from across the country into one place.
Amrap’s airplay tracking just got an upgrade. Airplay (formerly Airplay Search) is now in your Amrap artist account, giving artists who’ve uploaded music since November 1st, 2024, real-time airplay data powered by Music Recognition Technology (MRT) across the entire community radio network.
This week, 4ZZZ’s Aysha Swanson selects their must-listen local tunes playing on community radio right now.
4ZZZ’s Aysha Swanson Amrap Picks
Transit Venus dropped the single “Smoosho” in June 2025, earning airplay on Melbourne’s Triple R. The track weaves dreamy, warped synths over a pulsing rhythm, topped with breathy, woozy vocals — creating a dancefloor-ready tension that’s both euphoric and anxious. A standout in the Brisbane electro‑pop scene, “Smoosho” hints at influences like Toro y Moi and Confidence Man, while asserting Transit Venus’s own glitter‑pop identity.
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Released mid‑June 2025, Brisbane-based producer and songwriter EJ Wood delivers “Garden” with a soundscape blending lush dream‑pop textures, trip‑hop grooves, and sampled scraps like ASMR vocals and voice memos. The single follows his debut “Four Months”, but leans toward ethereal intimacy, showcasing his knack for nuanced sonic layering and emotionally resonant lyrics. Themes of neglect, renewal, and love’s fading bloom run through his rich production.
On “Easy”, Brisbane’s queer‑alt rock outfit Platonic Sex deliver raw emotional energy with jangling guitars and urgent vocals from frontperson Kate McHugh. The song confronts disillusionment and desire head-on — its jagged riffs and direct lyricism contribute to its potency as a live anthem. Platonic Sex continue to cement their status as bold storytellers in the local alt‑rock scene.
Sleepazoid’s “3AM” captures the still, spinning feeling of the early morning — equal parts dreamlike and disorienting. With warped samples, muted percussion, and softly murmured vocals, the track floats in a liminal space between ambient pop and glitchy electronica. It’s the kind of song you want to disappear into. Reminiscent of early James Blake and Tirzah, “3AM” is a late-night reverie for anyone who feels too much when the world goes quiet.
Adelaide collective The Empty Threats dive into bold, sax-laced post-punk with “The One” — a standout single from their forthcoming record. Their sound is sprawling and theatrical, fusing political commentary with propulsive rhythms and wild instrumental flourishes. Driven by an urgent vocal performance and electrifying live energy, “The One” captures the mood of a generation reckoning with burnout, capitalism, and disconnection.
“Insect” by Kaurna/Adelaide-based band Placement is a crawling, claustrophobic track that leans into unease. Released via the tastemakers at Spoilsport Records, the band builds a slow-burning tension through reverb-drenched guitar lines, spoken-word vocals, and industrial textures. The lyrics evoke surveillance, anxiety, and alienation, crafting a sonic world that feels both familiar and uncanny. For fans of Dry Cleaning, The Native Cats, and ESG. This one buzzes, long after it ends.
Clea’s latest single “Genuine Gemini” floats in a dreamy haze of glacial synths, delicate beats, and hypnotic vocals. A celestial pop track exploring duality, heartbreak, and astrological magnetism, it captures the emotional whiplash of falling for someone you can’t quite pin down. Released in June with surreal visuals by Nick Maguire, the song continues Clea’s evolution into an artist of quiet intensity and poetic depth.
