Hiatus Kaiyote – Nakamarra
Neo-soul four-piece Hiatus Kaiyote have been taking their silky smooth sound to select shows around the country and are appearing this weekend at the Queenscliff music festival. The Melbourne band dropped their debut LP Tawk Tomahawk in 2012, but it was the album’s final track Nakamarra – an exercise in downtempo groove paired with the rich tones of lead singer Nai Palm – that began snaking its way through the music world. Before long it was picked up by such R&B luminaries as Questlove and Erykah Badu, and landed itself on the 2013 Grammy nominees list for best R&B performance in a version featuring Q-Tip.
The Western Shore – A Life Like This
Country folk duo the Western Shore have made a record of effortlessly melodic tunes that cruise along like the wheels of a well-oiled wagon. There are no rough edges to this Nashville-based duo’s distinctly vintage chic, a point emphasised by the videos to several of their songs. In A Life Like This, Kalee and Charlie Smyth are seen sitting on the beautiful veranda of a 19th century house in North Carolina, sweetly singing and strumming as if music had never even made it onto wax discs, never mind microchips. The song encapsulates their sound and style, with Wooden Cane, Palomino and You Can’t Make Old Friends following in its vein on new album Thunderstorm. A treat.
Grace – Pluto
“Discovered” by Heath Ledger at the tender age of 16, Perth indie-blues singer Grace Woodroofe is back on the scene with her first new music since the achingly sparse 2010 debut LP Always Want. She’s dropped her surname (thus entering the pantheon of one-named chanteuse), ditched the minimalist, smoky-voiced Cat Power-meets-Lana Del Rey shtick and ventured into the world of dark synth-pop. Pluto is the first taste of the music she has been creating with TV on the Radio producer Dave Sitek, and it’s hooky, ambitious stuff. We’re not sure what Ledger would make of the transformation, but you can judge for yourself by catching one of her shows on her current Australian tour.
Josef Salvat – Every Night
London-based Australian singer-songwriter Josef Salvat has been described as the lovechild of Morrissey and Lana Del Rey. And yes, his In Your Prime EP has plenty of dreamy, atmospheric production and melancholy yearning to satisfy all the romantics. Our only gripe is at times his songs display a penchant for big, poppy, radio-friendly choruses that overpower the sincerity of his verse. Salvat has recently released a version of his hit Every Night remixed by Melbourne band Temper Trap, but we kind of prefer the more restrained original. Also worth listening to is Open Season and a cover of Rhianna’s Diamonds.
1200 Techniques – Time Has Come
It’s kind of incredible to think a decade has passed since we heard from one of Australia’s original hip-hop bands, 1200 Techniques. The group preceded the rise of skip-hop, and it’s hard to recall that era in which the ilk of Hilltop Hoods, Illy and 360 would fail to chart. Unsurprisingly, their first new song in yonks answers the question: “Where you been all this time?” Time Has Come is a condensed biography of their rise to fame, burnout and the “year that turned into 10” but that also “thank god we’re still friends”. Is this a comeback? This time around, for DJ Peril, Nfamas and Kemstar, it’s about returning to what got them in this game in the first place: music and good friends.
