To celebrate a ten-year partnership with Sounds Australia, UK’s premier showcasing event The Great Escape will host a slew of Australian artists at their next annual run, with Australia as the focus country for the event. And they’ve announced the first ten Aussie artists to grace the event’s stages.
From the 9th until the 11th of May, 2019 the musicians will show off their home grown talent at flagship showcases like The Aussie BBQ, Sound Gallery and Komedia. The festival is known for hosting internationally acclaimed artists like Julia Jacklin, Methyl Ethel and Skeggs over the past few years boosting their careers outside of Australia. Here is a quick look at who will pack their bags next May to head for Brighton.
Allysha Joy
The singer and producer Allysha Joy gained recognition as part of the Melbourne Hip Hop outfit 30/70 in 2016 and after two successful years with the collective she started her own side project earlier this year. On her first solo record Acadie: Raw, Joy proves that she is not only an incredibly talented vocalist, but also a divers musician. Jazz, Hip Hop and RnB influences and her honest and personal song writing make this LP and elaborate and complex work of music. Featuring Saxophones, steady grooves and husky vocals Allysha Joy is a force to be reckoned with at The Great Escape and beyond.
Body Type
Following the female singer is the feminist powerhouse band Body Type. The all female four-piece from Sydney has enriched plenty of festivals before, like the Sydney Festival or the Electric Lady Festival, and will take their lo-fi garage rock to England next year. Influenced by Deerhunter and Good Morning Body Type released their debut single “Ludlow” in 2016. Its playful sound is spiked with a rhythmic guitar section and clever lyrics. The songs have a beautiful effortlessness and were mostly written by simply jamming out as a band or improvising on stage.
Cable Ties
The Melbourne Trio Cable Ties will take their inventive post-punk garage rock fusion songs to Europe as well. The band thrives on blazing riffs and hypnotic rhythms while front woman Jenny McKechnie howls the life-affirming lyrics into the mic. The punk-rocky songs of the self-titled debut album evolve around topics like queer identity and feminist politics and were listed as Tripe J’s Album of the weeks. England better prepare itself for a dose of bass heavy rebellious punk energy from Australia.
Emerson Snowe
Hiding behind the alter ego Emerson Snowe is The Creases moniker Jarrod Mahon. After the Brisbane native kicked his drinking habit, he let his creative juices flow into a new side project. The songwriter pours out his heart and mind onto a piece of paper everyday within half an hour or so, creating simple songs without getting lost in endless layering and over editing of the pieces. Like this the acclaimed artist has released countless EP’s within a short period of time. His tracks have an unconventional and edgy instrumentation and an old school home made sound as he records most of them independently. Mahon, who has been on stage with Courtney Barrett and The Antlers before, will now travel to England with his alternative indie tracks as part of the massive line up.
JEFFE
This Sydney based singer and songwriter has kept most of her private life to herself, only performing under the name JEFFE. Yet the artist has made huge waves on Spotify hitting fifty thousand streams shortly after the release of her first single “Whoever You Love, I’m Cool”. With online following and five-star reviews in her pocket, the indie singer goes on to captivate her audience with sparkling piano melodies and mellow beats. Still it is JEFFE’s voice, which truly draws you in. Its clear and controlled sound is loaded with emotions and takes the listener onto a ride through the dreamy world of JEFFE’s very own interpretation of alternative music and messy indie pop.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
This Perth outfit is hardly a stranger to big stages having completed tours supporting their two LPs across all of Australia. As the name already gives away, the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets create moody rock tracks with lots of psychedelic influences. Colourful shifts in melody and drifting beats melt to elaborate electrically enhanced noise while echoing lyrics float across the divers tracks. “My Friend’s A Liquid” is the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets latest single and packed with layered trippy sounds and a catchy chorus edging on the border to pop music.
Sons of the East
Hauling from Sydney’s Northern Beaches is the indie folk band Sons of the East. The Trio has completed several international shows with sold out concerts in their hometown and in Melbourne, and hit 50 million online streams. Starting out in 2011 the band has released two critically acclaimed EP’s drawing influences from the greats like Neil Young, The Kinks or Fleetwood Mac. On their latest release “Nothing Comes Easy” Nick Johnston’s raspy vocals give the mix of acoustic and electronic instruments an edgy taste. A charismatic voice, mellow keyboard tunes and refined electric guitar work turn this song into a true indie gem.
These New South Whales
The Mockumentary TV show about Sydney’s self-proclaimed “premier punk-outfit” is drifting somewhere in between hilarious depiction of the rock star life and aggressive punk performances. Performing shirtless with only black tape covering their chest, the four musical comedians have been called the Flight of the Conchords of punk. These New South Whales will put on an ear shattering show for The Great Escape while mockingly depicting the clichés of the punk music industry.
Tropical Fuck Storm
The prize for the best name of a band attending TGE probably goes to this Melbourne outfit, also referred to as TFS. The four-piece is made up of the former Drones members, singer and songwriter Gareth Liddiard, and bassist Fiona Kitschin. Together with Erica Dunn and Lauren Hammel they quickly recorded the debut album A Laughing Death in Meatspace and went on tour supporting Modest Mouse in the United States. The bass heavy alternative rock dissolves in art punk like noise with strange outbursts of sounds and off key guitar riffs. TFS’s unhinged energy and inventiveness push the boundaries of the alternative music genre to the utmost. They’re also nominated for a bunch of National Live Music Awards this week!
SKYND
Horror film lovers listen up! Each of SKYND’s songs is based on brutal crimes or unresolved mysteries and named after murders or murderers. Accompanied by dark video clips explicitly depicting the cruel violence of the lyrics based on real life, this electronic outfit is not for the faint hearted. The tracks are a collaboration of the lead singer SKYND, and the producer and multi-instrumentalist known as Father. With gothic vibes and edgy electronic beats the Sydney outfit explores the darkest corners of the human soul and promises to give England the creeps.
Click here for all the details, and tickets to The Great Escape 2019 in Brighton!
