Odd Tango – Joseph Tawadros
Virtuoso of the oud, that lovely egg-shaped stringed instrument, Joseph Tawadros is back with a new album Truth Seekers, Lovers and Warriors. The Sydney composer is prolific in his music-making; he’s put out an album every year for the past 12 years, and picked up the last three best world music album Aria awards for his troubles. Odd Tango, the lead track off the album, showcases Tawadros’s ability to irreverently split apart genres, then reassemble them into songs that are entirely his own. And he showcases some impressive technical ability, like firing off rounds of machine gun-fast plucking while he’s at it. Tawadros is touring the country with his album launch on 6 May in Sydney.
A Pleasant Stutter – Fieldings
Lucinda Hearn, aka Fieldings, describes A Pleasant Stutter as “a dark cut” that features found sounds from a Dulwich Hill thunderstorm and a 1970s car safety ad. “You know how it is to wonder what people do with their boyfriends and girlfriends when you can’t see them? This song is about that,” says Hearn. The song’s tough, techno-beat opening gives way to moody, reverb-heavy vocals and a pasted-together collage of samples. It recently featured on Double J in a showcase of found-sound musical innovators, predominantly female, curated by fellow cut-and-paste artist Caitlin Park.
Hawaii – Ainslie Wills
In 2013, Melbourne singer Ainslie Wills’s debut album You Go Your Way, I’ll Go Mine showcased her distinct brand of inventive, drama-filled pop music that was quickly awarded the Australian music prize and Melbourne music prize nominations. She’s since released the catchy first single Drive from forthcoming EP, Oh The Gold, and now Hawaii. The song comes packed with big synths that detonate just at the right moment, with Wills singing in full-blown 80s power ballad mode. Co-written with guitarist Lawrence Folvig, it was recorded in Brisbane with Arron Light on drums and production courtesy of Matt Redlich.
Black Panda – Koi Child
Fremantle seven-piece Koi Child are breathing new life into the hip-hop genre. Their first single, Slow One, fuses rap music with down-tempo jazz, while their second, Black Panda, quickly transitions from classic hip-hop beats into raucous rock energy and off-kilter rhythms. The band have caught the attention of fellow Western Australian muso Kevin Parker of Tame Impala fame, who pitched in on production duties for Black Panda. In an interview, the band called it “exceptionally educational” to watch Parker flex his recording and mixing muscles, and discuss both the challenges and advantages of a band comprised of seven very talented composers.
Unmeet You – WILSN
Forget neo-soul, this is old soul – the type that never goes out of style. Shannon Busch, aka WILSN, is a recent graduate from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne and she’s pulled out a cracker of a debut song in Unmeet You. The song rides on an infectious groove with Busch showcasing the kind of husky vocals reminiscent of Dusty Springfield and Amy Winehouse – emotive but with a lightness of touch. And the perfectly tormented lyrics, centred around the memory of an ex-lover (“if I could just unmeet you”) sound like they’re lifted straight out of the torch singer’s textbook.
