Country music has never been shy about dabbling in outside genres, and to us, that’s part of what makes today’s landscape of country so exciting. Be it infectious pop melodies, booming hip hop beats, or head-banging rock aggression, modern country has found itself a comfortable middle ground while retaining the relatable, storytelling roots that drew […]
Rock music has a unique relationship with nostalgia. It feels like every few years, there’s an announcement that “real rock is back”. More often than not though, the revival only amounts to reheated riffs, vintage guitars, and a constellation of influential names worn on the sleeve so proudly that they all start to blend together
There’s an authentic, honest flavour of Australian rock that appears unable to separate emotion from its environment. The road is more than just tarmac. The horizon isn’t merely a painted background. When one connects the enormous openness of the outback to the tumultuous interiors of the humans traversing it, songs such as Rob Fletcher’s ‘Hells
Rob Fletcher Faces the Impossible in Alt-Rock Masterpiece Hells Gate Read More »
Picture a neon-baked asphalt stretch cutting through a red dust horizon under twin moons. That is the immediate world conjured when independent artist 7Virus drops the pedal on Martian Night and lets a surge of turbocharged electric guitar riffs rip through the stillness. The opening thirty seconds hit like a shot of liquid adrenaline before
A High-Octane Cyberpunk Rock Rush That Blasts Off Into Pure Arena Euphoria Read More »
There is something refreshingly subversive about creating an album that resists all conventions of contemporary music. Not the obnoxious, leather-jacket kind of rebellious, nor the “rock is coming back!” marketing pitch every label apparently has to trot out every six months. Home, the debut record by motko is rebellious because it trusts that you will
motko Makes an Album for People Who Still Listen to Albums Read More »
Some pop songs are made to be danced to. Other songs are made to be contemplated. Stefanie Michaela achieves a perfect synthesis with ‘Carefree’. Its ultimate success is a sense of liberation found not at the end of impossible striving for perfection but through recognizing the value of simply being present. It could hardly be
Stefanie Michaela Finds a Sense of Liberation in Smaller Victories With “Carefree” Read More »
Three decades into his songwriting journey, Melbourne-based musician Jason McKee could have easily introduced his band Reetoxa with something bland; a slick rock-and-roller which politely announces its presence and quickly vanishes into the algorithm. Instead, “Demand Perfection” does the opposite; it walks into the room and acts like it belongs there. Demand Perfection, the band’s
Reetoxa Aims and Achieves Impossible Standards on “Demand Perfection” Read More »
Late night quiet brings a specific clarity that Alexa Kate transforms into brilliant emotional art on her stunning release The Aftermath. The track opens on a delicate strumming pattern in a sleepy New York City apartment setting that feels like eavesdropping on a secret confession spoken under hushed breath. She handles the weight of emotional self-sabotage with
Alexa Kate Turns Emotional Ruin Into Pure Gold on ‘The Aftermath’ Read More »
The scent of cheap cologne and the weight of a heavy silence usually define the end of a bad romance but Angele Lapp decides to torch that entire cliché with her new single Toxic Boyfriend. Instead of retreating into the usual muted acoustic heartbreak she opts for a high-voltage reclamation of space that feels like
Toxic Boyfriend By Angele Lapp: A High-Voltage Evolution of the Breakup Anthem Read More »
“A sun-baked anthem that distills the erratic desperation of a desk job into three minutes of sheer unadulterated escapism.” There is a peculiar kind of alchemy that happens when a guitar riff sounds exactly like salt water stinging your eyes. On the sun-baked anthem Beach Fever Epic Nelson manages to distill the erratic desperation of
Beach Fever By Epic Nelson: The Scorching Antidote to the Modern Grind Read More »
