SXSW fever has gripped Sydney, and we have taken another deep dive into the new music which has hit our inbox this week. Today we have added another ten tracks to our Discovery Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, including two we exclusively premiered earlier in the week. Our track of the week is “The Cow”, from garage-rock four-piece Girl and Girl.
Packed with searing guitar riffs, Girl and Girl are carrying a blazing torch for the revival of classic guitar garage rock. “The Cow” comes ahead of their upcoming East Coast Aussie tour later this month, and into November. Get along if you can – they are brilliant live.
You might wonder where the motivation for “The Cow” morphed from. We certainly did. Frontman Kai James explains, “All my friends call me ‘The Cow!’ Not really, but sometimes I think they should, because sometimes I let my cow brain speak louder than my cow heart, and of all of your cow parts, you should listen most to your cow heart.”. There is a super fun video for the track, featuring Kai and music journo and podcaster, Jenna Million.
“flood” is the latest single from Naarm/Melbourne outfit Fan Girl – their sixth of the year so far. Fresh from the BBC6 studios the band are currently on tour in the UK supporting Pom Poko and The Wytches. They’re back in Australia for an East Coast tour in November and December. The single, which builds on the momentum of their recent EP real or staged, is about distancing yourself from your anxieties to get through the day. Swaggering, a bit of a slow burner, but undeniably catchy “food” sees Fan Girl closing out 2024 in style.
Whenever Alice Ivy drops a new track, we listen intently. When we saw that she has collaborated with Josh Teskey, we couldn’t throw the headphones on quick enough. “Do I Need To Know What Love Is?” is stunning, Josh’s old school vocals, Alice’s modern production, throw in some brass and sweet harmonies and it feels so polished. This one glistens ever so brightly.
Austrian artist Soap&Skin has form when it comes to releasing covers. She’s released enough cover songs over the years for the Donau-Festival to invite her to preform all of them. That idea has now morphed into a permanent collection, the album Torso – set for release on November 22nd via Play It Again Sam. The latest single “Girl Loves Me”, originally featured on David Bowie’s final album Blackstar, and was first covered by Soap&Skin in 2018. Haunting, atmospheric and utterly idiosyncratic “Girl Loves Me” captivates and beguiles from start to finish.
“Close Enough” is the new single from Nashville-based singer-songwriter JH Burns. A charming blend of americana/country and indie rock, “Close Enough” really showcases Burns’ songwriting chops. It’s twangy, rootsy, and with a strong groove too. There’s enough elements to satisfy fans of both genres, and a wonderful pop sensibility to the track too.
Also added to the playlist this week are new tracks from Belgian singer-songwriter Isaac Roux (“Brotherhood”) , British shoegaze and fuzz supergroup HOO (“Snake”) and LA dark dream pop duo Magic Wands (“Armour”) .
And finally, we have two premieres from earlier in the week – “The Saga” from The Saga and “honeY” from CHEZ.
Catch all the new music updated every Friday on Apple Music:
and on Spotify:
Here’s the complete list of new additions this week:
Girl and Girl “The Cow”
Fan Girl “flood”
Alice Ivy “Do I Need To Know What Love Is?” ft. Josh Teskey
Soap&Skin “Girl Loves Me”
Magic Wands “Armour”
Hoo “Snake”
JH Burns “Close Enough”
Isaac Roux “Brotherhood”
The Saga “The Saga” [Exclusive Single Premiere]
CHEZ “honeY” [Exclusive Single Premiere]
