Singles Spin #18
So what’s the latest singles in Singles Spin #18? Check out the latest from:
Singer-songwriter DAMI IM is set to release a new single Crying Underwater – out 13th September. One of Australia’s brightest and most loved performers, Crying Underwater is Dami’s first single release since 2016 and is an exciting precursor to a plethora of new music to come.
Crying Underwater is about something many can relate to about feeling sad and isolated but each day putting on a mask for other people. “There is so much pressure in today’s society to always look happy so we end up feeling like we’re not allowed to talk about how we really feel.. Just like you’re crying underwater where no one can see you crying”. Co-written with Michael Tan and produced by Andy Mak, Dami wrote majority of the song sitting at her piano at home where she feels the most comfortable.
Potentially the catchiest song of the year, Selling Me Out is Tuka’s first official new single. In stark contrast to F*ck You Pay Me, it is a melodic driven and energetic break up song commenting on the role money and security plays in our romantic relationships. Do we prioritise money and convenience over real intimacy? A fun yet profound song and a reflection on our society and our connections with in it.
Discussing the genesis of the song, Tuka explains, “The idea for the song actually came from a cat/animal appreciation group I started called Catsquad. Someone in the group actually posted a quote from an older song I’d written (TATTOO) using the phrase “we suit we so well” to describe their relationship with their cat. I responded to the post saying that I regret not making a complete song out of that concept “we suit we so well”. The entire group got really excited about it and wanted me to give it a try. Over the length of probably three months or so, I posted updates on how the writing was going and eventually I started showing them previews of the track, they all seemed super into it even though I’d pinched the lyrics from an older song! Recently I showed then a teaser of the final version of the track and they put forward the new name of “Selling MEOW-OUT” which I actually really like and secretly wish I could name the song that. Meow motherf*cker.”
Oh Wonder are one of the UK’s best-kept secrets. Hallelujah’ is a song of defiance that we wrote for anyone that has ever been told they can’t do something. As music-making teenagers, we were both discouraged by naysayers who declared that we would never be successful, that we weren’t good enough, and that we could never be superstars, so we should just give up. When we met each other, we bonded over our shared experiences of setbacks and near-misses, and set ourselves the highly unrealistic goal of releasing music and touring the world. After two albums and a world tour of 43 countries, we have only recently had a chance to process the last 5 years. Hallelujah is a reminder to ourselves, as much as anyone else, to not care what people think of you, to work hard, be yourself and try your best. It’s our personal anthem of self-acceptance that we hope will encourage others to “wear their crowns”, no matter what anyone else says.”
On the heels of the recently announced new album and headline tour, California’s greatest export and relationship experts Steel Panther are releasing another song from their highly-anticipated upcoming album, Heavy Metal Rules. The song Gods Of Pussy is now available on all digital streaming services and is available as an instant download via all digital retailers.
Lyrically, Gods Of Pussy is a life manifesto as only vocalist Michael Starr, guitarist Satchel, bassist Lexxi Foxx and drummer Stix Zadinia can unleash upon the world.
Steel Panther explains: “Kiss wrote ‘God Of Thunder,” Def Leppard wrote ‘Gods of War’ and we wanted to get in to the ‘God’ business too. This is an autobiographical description of a day in the life of Steel Panther. So, when you’re feeling a little unsexy and you need to get your mojo flowing and turn up the heat, play this song at 10 and you too can become a God of Pussy.”
Two-time Grammy nominated DJ and producer Steve Aoki has teamed up with one of the world’s highest-selling artists of all-time, Backstreet Boys, for their new single Let It Be Me.
Steve Aoki is one of today’s most successful American cross-genre artists. In addition to this collaboration with Backstreet Boys, he has worked with acts such as BTS, One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson, Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui, Migos, blink-182, and Daddy Yankee. Steve Aoki will return to Australia this November/December for the inaugural Festival X.
Seattle indie rockers Great Grandpa return today with the gorgeous and commanding new single Digger – the second cut from their forthcoming sophomore album, Four of Arrows, that’s out October 25th on Dew Process.
“I used to have a dog who would get into this intense and almost manic trance when he would dig a hole in the yard,” explains Great Grandpa songwriter Pat Goodwin. “We called him Digger because he just became obsessed with these seemingly pointless pits. Something about his eyes in this state has lingered with and haunted me for years. It felt familiar, human even. Over the years Carrie [GG member / Pat’s wife, Carrie Goodwin] and I began to liken it, even using the name, to describe ourselves when our mental health was spiralling or/and we were diving into the dangerous game of obsessive existential inquiry/patterns. Written in the wake of a fateful Wildwood Tarot reading following months of creative drought, this song is, like the spaces it explores, messy and without much resolution — simultaneously a meditation on the process of creation, determinism vs agency and an ode to Philip K Dick’s The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, mental illness, and those in our lives who dug too far. It’s safest to never go out in the darkness, but perhaps we’ll miss something in the dark.”
Following a mysterious countdown on their socials, multi-platinum selling, Grammy-nominated Fall Out Boy have released a new single Dear Future Self (Hands Up) ft. Wyclef Jean.
Dear Future Self (Hands Up) ft. Wyclef Jean will be featured on their forthcoming record Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die – Volume Two, out November 15th via Island Records.
The song marks the band’s first new music since the August 2018 release of the three-song Lake Effect Kid EP, a love letter to their hometown city of Chicago that featured the full version of the band’s previously unreleased title track demo along with two new songs City in A Garden and Super Fade that followed the Grammy-nominated album M A N I A.
Dublin hip hop stars on the rise Kojaque and Luka Palm have dropped their new collaborative project, Green Diesel on Kojaque’s independent imprint Soft Boy Records via Dew Process.
Describing how the pair’s ‘Green Diesel’ project came about, Kojaque says, “We started out wanting to make a short project, four tracks or something, but the more we worked together the more the tunes piled up, until we had like 11 tracks together. We kept working on them and finessing them and chose the ones that flowed together the best. The project is all energy, we pushed each other to make it and to get it to a place we’re both really happy with. I think you can see a lot of passion in the project and some bangin’ f*ckin’ tunes.” The mixtape sees production from New Machine (‘Phoenix’), the Soft Boy label’s peers – Kean Kavanagh (‘Date Night,’ Airbnb + more), Matt Finnegan (‘Spit Dat Out’) and a special feature from Scottish MC ‘CHLOBOCOP’ on ‘Chew Toy’.
Country music’s most upbeat and energetic love song for 2019 is from Australia’s most exciting and popular country rock performer, Casey Barnes.
The track is the first from a new set of recordings which are scheduled to come out over the next few months. “In a world where we’re constantly being judged on our appearance and an expectation that you have to look a certain way, A Little More is a shout out to everyone out there that thinks that’s a load of B.S!”, said Barnes. “When we sat down and wrote this song, we wanted it to come from the perspective of a couple in love where one is expressing to the other that they actually love all the things they may not like about themselves the most!”
When Charlie’s Angels hits theatres November 14 – for the first time in the entire history of the franchise, films and television, directed by a woman, Elizabeth Banks – the new Angels will move to the beat of Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey as Republic Records and Sony Pictures Entertainment release their song Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels) and the song’s official music video. The track, which features co-writing credits from all three of the artists, was recently featured in the film’s trailer and is the lead single from the upcoming Charlie’s Angels (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). The soundtrack is co-executive produced by Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, and Scooter Braun and will be available November 1 via Republic Records, two weeks prior to the films November 14, 2019 release.
With over 2 billion global artist streams to his name, chart-topping Dean Lewis has today shared his new live video of current single Straight Back Down, lifted from his #1 ARIA Album A Place We Knew. The release comes only a week after the Australian artist was confirmed to perform at this year’s AFL Grand Final and Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Straight Back Down was the #1 Most Added Single at Radio first week out of the gate and it continues to climb the TMN Hot 100 Radio Chart with airplay across all radio formats. The live video was recorded at the second of three sold out shows earlier this year on his A Place We Knew Australian Tour at The Forum Theatre in Melbourne.
Jack Ladder has today released new track Shades – a desolate and beautiful cover of the underrated romantic highlight from Iggy Pop’s 1986 album Blah-Blah-Blah. Shades is released alongside the slinky and lovelorn B-Side Head Full of Nails – a fitting follow-up to Ladder’s 5th album Blue Poles released last year via Barely Dressed Records / Remote Control Records.
Shades may seem tongue-in-cheek, but Ladders performance comes from a place of deep affinity and admiration. As Ladder explains;
“I remember first seeing the video for Shades when the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s programmed Rage about ten years ago. It was a big moment. It was a different side of Iggy. He was being honest and heartfelt, romantic even, which made it funny. It had a redemptive quality to it. All the ingredients for a good song.”
Following on from releasing his critically praised new single Real Love ft. Françoistunes, Melbourne-based producer Illstrtd has just revealed the accompanying candid music video – shot and directed by Zac Harris (aka Hoodwolf).
A nod to dating videos set in the 1980’s, the throwback production navigates through a series of quintessentially tragic auditions undertaken by suitors played by Illstrtd, Françoistunes and a couple of desperate deadbeats they found on the streets of Melbourne while shooting. The visual aesthetic and treatment also keeps in line with the retro theme, with a VHS-like edit and the use of green screens; intentionally B-grade to further capture the light hearted spirit of the clip.
Illstrtd describes the motivation behind the clip:
“The director basically came to us with the idea of building this around an 80’s style dating video, the real cheesy ones where guys sit in front of a camera and basically try to sell why they’re worth dating. We took that whole vibe and used that as inspiration for the video!”.
Spunk Records is thrilled to announce the signing of Melbourne band Floodlights to its roster. The four-piece —made up of members Louis Parsons, Ashlee Kehoe, Joe Braffen and Archie Shannon—tackle Australia’s troubled cultural identity through candid honesty and their distinct, biting garage sound.
This much is clear on the band’s lead single Nullarbor, a gritty yet vulnerable track driven by lead singer Louis’ narrative of his travels across the remote South of Australia – his singing push-pulling from a tired Australian drawl to a raucous yelp over propulsive drums and jangly guitars.
Melbourne duo N.Y.C.K. unveil I’ll Be The One, the fourth release from their forthcoming debut album Wild Streak, which is out Friday 18 October.
I’ll Be The One is a painstakingly frank and reflective song that was inspired by a melody that Nick and Dom originally wrote with Australian artist Anatole in mind. After being lost for some time on hard drives and buried memory, the song resurfaced and was reformed for Wild Streak.
“When I was going through a heartbreak, I was living with my best friend and his new girlfriend. They were totally in love and would leave notes for each other all over the house. Little esoteric glimpses into a world I couldn’t be a part of. I’d see notes that read ‘I love you’ and remember feeling quite empty.
A few lyrics are from a conversation I overheard about a break up and then trying to fill that void with one-night connections. It resonated on some level because the broken hearted me felt sorry for myself and I wanted to be destructive, to explore what I couldn’t before, to pay everyone back – “Don’t leave a light on for me I’m out for the weekend. Out to get my pound of flesh like a free man.”” – Nick Acquroff
With a new line-up in tow, and a stack of new material on the way, Destrends returned with their new single Medication out now, via Bread & Butter Records.
The official music video for the new single was directed by Rick Clifford at Spilting Films and depicts the band members in an abandoned power plant. Dusty floors, graffitied walls and broken furniture form the backdrop for Destrends’ punk-rock performance – paralleling the lyrics of the song, which speak to a derelict and dystopian future.
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