Features
New Noise: Lorde, Arcade Made, Cash Savage, Yolke
By Mess+Noise
Rap iconography, ’90s nostalgia, open-armed devotion and oceanic textures, all in this week’s roundup of Soundcloud offerings.
[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]
– When none other than Grimes proclaims “Holy fuck this is so good,” the internet listens. And so the spotlight is now firmly on New Zealand artist Lorde, whose debut EP The Love Club also caught the attention of Diplo and surely of some not-as-famous people too. The new single ‘Royals’ adds to her surefire R&B-via-Kate Bush approach with a self-aware rattling-off of overused rap iconography (gold teeth, Grey Goose, Cadillacs) to highlight her outsider status. The mega-hyped young artist – apparently already signed to Universal – is doing two intimate shows in Sydney and Melbourne that will sell out quickly.
Fri, May 17 – The Workers Club, Melbourne, VIC
Sat, May 18 – GoodGod Small Club, Sydney, NSW
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.]Royals by LordeMusic
[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]
– Indie rock trio Arcade Made are doing a mini-tour behind ‘Shoot the Pricks’, the latest single from their debut EP We Were Famous and follow-up to last year’s ‘Inches’. While its title may recall GBV, the song has more of a Smashing Pumpkins vibe emerging from its ’90s-friendly sound. The band comprises three childhood friends from Bundaberg, who survived “an alarming amount of rum and Coke” before hightailing it to Brisbane.
Fri, April 12 – The Loft, Gold Coast, QLD
Sat, April 27 – The Brewery, Byron Bay, NSW
Thurs, May 16 – Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane, QLD
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.]Arcade Made - Shoot the Pricks by Arcademade
[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]
– A big, open-armed confession of romantic devotion, ‘I’m in Love’ finds the often-stormy Cash Savage & The Last Drinks in a peaceful new place. Over a sweet honky-tonk build full of subtle embellishment – strings, banjo, horns, harmonies from a 15-piece choir – the single eschews the tortured catharsis of much of 2011’s debut LP Wolf as well as Savage’s rascally on-stage humour. Penned with Graveyard Train’s Nick Finch, Savage calls it “the nicest song she’s ever written.” It’s a very promising taste off a second album, recorded with Finch producing and Nao Anzai engineering. Stories feature prominently on the album, including “a family forced to give up a farm they love but can’t keep; loveless marriages, messy breakups and the hypnotic pull of unexpected attraction; the death of a beloved companion; and the dangerous meeting of an unsuspecting Samaritan and a hitchhiking arsonist.” ‘I’m in Love’ gets launched next Friday (April 19) at The Workers Club in Melbourne, supported by La Bastard and Tim Neilson of last week’s New Noise headliners The Death Rattles. It’s $15, in advance or on the door.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.]Cash Savage and the Last Drinks -I'm In Love by Heapsaflash
[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]
– Fallopian Tunes continues its winning streak with Yolke’s Syrup EP. The Melbourne “psych-ambient” quartet stretch out gorgeously on highlight ‘Golden Rings’, an oceanic dream of textures, effects and vocal touches. The self-produced EP was recorded with and mastered by Document Swell’s Simon Cotter. Having finished a Fallopian Tunes tour of America, Yolke are currently doing some live dates in Mexico, of all places.
[Historical embedded media is withheld pending rights review.]Yolke - Golden Rings by Mess+Noise
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