Broods – L.A.F.
Much like FKA Twigs, Tove Lo and their compatriot Lorde, brother-sister duo Broods (Caleb and Georgia Nott) make atmosphere indie-electro pop, infused with a sexuality that simmers just below the surface. They share with Lorde the same producer, New Zealand’s Joel Little, who is having a ripper couple of years. Broods’ most popular song to date is Bridges, off their Broods EP, a song that leaps effortlessly between a hopeful, soaring chorus and its more circumspect chorus. L.A.F. is the latest track from their debut album Evergreen. It’s a hand-clapping dance-happy salutation to young love and comes before their Australian tour in late November.
Tangerine Dream – Love on a Real Train
Berlin Krautrockers Tangerine Dream were making complex electronic music long before many of today’s kid producers took their first breath on this planet. Last Sunday they attracted a full house at Melbourne’s Town Hall for the city’s annual music week. They’ll be back at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image on Thursday to perform a live soundtrack to the film Sorcerer. In the meantime, enjoy their slow build-up song Love on a Real Train from the 1983 film Risky Business. There’s also plenty of other weird and wonderful Melbourne Music Week acts to come, with highlights including Live Music Safari, Optimo and Midnight Juggernauts at the Queen Victoria Markets as well as a series of gigs at unusual locations (like a substation) called Lost Empire.
Karl S Williams – Time Bomb
Karl S Williams has tagged his new album Heartwood as Appalachian, blues, delta blues, soul and Gold Coast. We wonder if the city has spawned its own musical genre, and if it sounds like this, then the resort town’s reputation as a cultural desert might not last much longer. Williams, who calls the Queensland city home but is currently touring nationally, has produced a record brimming with ambition, ideas and decidedly good tunes. Time Bomb, which opens the record, has a cracking, piano-driven riff with Old Testament-style lyrics, while White Hotel is a great vehicle to demonstrate his banjo skills. But it’s not all down in the Nerang river delta. Is This Love? and I Fell For You both display a pop sensibility that catches you off guard, suggesting Williams could go down either road in future.
Jessica Mauboy – Can I Get a Moment?
We’re going to call it: Jessica Mauboy is Australia’s best chance of finding an heir to Kylie Minogue’s pop princess crown – and then who knows, maybe even give Queen Bey a run for her money. The 2006 runner-up on the fourth season of Australian Idol has been in the spotlight for so long now, it’s easy to forget she’s still only 25. This track from 2013 album Beautiful is all about showing off Mauboy’s singing chops, and her vocals are bright, beautiful and clean. Plus, a few Mariah Carey-esque melismas thrown in dresses the whole thing up. Can I Get A Moment? is snazzy and sassy and Mauboy sounds like she’s having an absolute ball.
Robert DeLong – Long Way Down
“Did I make you fucking dance?” Robert DeLong asked in Global Concepts, the single from his debut album, Just Movement. The answer was a resounding “yes” when it came out in 2013 (Global Concepts went platinum in Australia) and now the multi-instrumentalist is attempting to coax us to our feet again. LA-based DeLong has just released a four-track EP and based on online reaction to the title track, plenty of people have signed up to happily follow him “on the Long Way Down”. The song follows the same recipe of Just Movement’s cheerful trip-hop: futuristic electronica with indie-rock influences. Another album reportedly in the works – tabbed for an early 2015 release – should keep the festival circuit grooving for quite a while.
