Hi Fi Way Mix Tape Volume 10
We love a good mix tape at Hi Fi Way, have a look to see who made Volume Ten:
“…flour, salt, a little red wine, and don’t forget a dollop of tomato sauce.” – it could be the most well-known recipe in Australia. Paul Kelly’s How to Make Gravy has become synonymous with Christmas gatherings around the nation – a soundtrack to families coming together, and those kept apart, during the festive season.
Written as a letter from prison at Christmas time on the “21st of December”, How To Make Gravy was first recorded in 1996 after it was originally commissioned by Lindsay Field for a various artists Christmas charity record to raise money for the Salvation Army. The song has grown in such popularity since it was recorded 25 years ago that every year, the 21st of December has been unofficially dubbed as “Gravy Day” by fans.
Of the new recording, which features on Kelly’s latest album, the #2 ARIA charting Paul Kelly’s Christmas Train, Paul Kelly explains “The original How To Make Gravy came out 25 years ago and I must have played it now thousands and thousands of times. It’s a staple in our set. The band and I thought it would be worthwhile putting our current version to tape. The way we play the song has evolved over the years but not that much. We’ve always kept the crucial slide riff, originally played by Spencer P Jones, and on this recording by Ashley Naylor. Playing this song is like going on a ride. Once you’re on it, it just takes off! Note for music nerds: Peter Luscombe plays drums on both versions.”
“The music video has been made by Siân Darling, lovingly and skilfully, with clips sourced from fans. It is a thing of wonder, sadness and joy.” Says Kelly of the video which features cameos by Brian Nankervis with his family and Gretta Ray.
Indie-rock quartet PLANET (*band name is capitalized) have shared a live acoustic version of their single Ship Won’t Change, featuring the stunning vocals from duo CLEWS and shot on the rooftop of The Landsdowne Hotel in Sydney’s inner west.
Ship Won’t Change is just one of the many guitar-driven delights featuring on their forthcoming debut album Information Overload out March 11 via Dew Process, which also includes recent release Need More & Resign.
Melbourne’s Windwaker has assembled their worldwide dream team and are thrilled to announce they’ve signed to both Fearless Records and Cooking Vinyl Australia locally.
Windwaker has steadily built a following and reputation by mixing hard rock sensibilities with memorable melodicism. It’s a potent cocktail and it is why they are one of the most exciting bands in Australia.
The quartet comes storming out of the gates with their rock ‘n’ roll cover of Britney Spears’ iconic anthem Toxic. Rare is the song that makes you want to shake your thang and mosh, but Windwaker’s take on Toxic does just that. With synths, riffs and swaggy vocals, it’s a killer intro to the band.
“‘Toxic’ is an all-time banger; the song undeniably slaps,” the band says. “We’ve never taken ourselves too seriously in that sense. We’ve always been an ‘If it feels right, it feels right’-type of group, and this cover came together like that. Not everything has to be this big, pretentious song and dance of ‘Look at us! Look at us!'” That said, Toxic will certainly turn heads onto this promising hard rock band.
Rounding out a milestone year, Melbourne three-piece Telenova release a brand new film clip for their glistening hit single Bones, taken from their debut EP Tranquilize, out now via Pointer Recordings. Co-directed by frontwoman Angeline Armstrong and LA-based filmmaker Jill Sachs, the video is a nod to the film references that influence Telenova’s song writing and a visual feast of the drama dreamt up in Armstrong’s lyrics (I was dreamin’ of blue skies in California / While you were loading your gun / Thе time has come Red and bluе lights chase us across the border / Forever out on the run).
Of the video, Armstrong comments “In the midst of the Melbourne lockdowns I got a random email from an AFI Film Grad in LA who’d just heard ‘Bones’ on KCRW radio and was already dreaming up a music vid she wanted to direct for us – it was incredible that from one listen alone, she heard all the film references that influence our songwriting and further inspired the visual elements of the clip – namely David Lynch and French New Wave Cinema… Jill Sachs & I co-directed this remotely, shooting on location in both Los Angeles and Melbourne. A unique logistical & creative challenge that we absolutely relished.”
Australia’s heavy bright lights In Hearts Wake have teamed up with Alpha Wolf for their new single Dogma, out now after its radio debut on triple j ‘s short.fast.loud.
In Hearts Wake are also pleased to reveal that Dogma will feature on their forthcoming Kaliyuga Booster Pack release, out February 11, 2022 through UNFD. The deluxe edition to their acclaimed 2020 album Kaliyuga, the affectionately titled Kaliyuga Booster Pack will also feature further new songs and a variety of live tracks recorded in Brisbane earlier this year.
In Hearts Wake vocalist Jake Taylor says:
“We set ourselves the challenge to write an entire song about dogs and had so much fun doing it. Sticking true to the theme, who better to ask to feature on Dogma than Alpha Wolf. Working with the dudes from AW was an enjoyable process. They take pride in their work and know how to have fun. Woof Woof!
“‘Dogma’ is part of our upcoming ‘Kaliyuga Booster Pack’, which includes 3 brand new songs and also 5 live tracks from the Brisbane Tivoli–the only show thus far on the Kaliyuga album cycle. With the rest of the rescheduled Aus Kaliyuga tour finally happening in one month and it already being 80% sold, we absolutely can’t wait to crush stages all across the country!”
alt-pop maverick AYLA unleashes another dose of vibrant, shape-shifting music with her new single Ride Along, and announces signing to Ego Records (Italy) for the international release. Produced by Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music) and Sam Thomlison (Oh My My, Bad Pony), mixed by Peter Holz (Peking Duk, Gang Of Youths) Ride Along sees the young singer step into her own, delivering a commanding anthem of self-empowerment.The release follows a strong bout of releases through 2020, including the Reuben Styles (Peking Duk) co-written and produced Go Slow, which promptly reminded audiences and industry alike of Ayla’s striking blend of delicate yet potent pop.
Powered by insatiable rhythms and hypnotic vocals, Ride Along is AYLA operating with a refreshed sense of confidence firmly engaged. The song itself is a rousing pop number that encourages taking a path of your own instead of one that is dictated by others.
“’Ride Along’ is about not sitting back and being walked over anymore – not just going along with what people expect of you, but taking a stand and making things happen for yourself, and in your own way. I think a lot of people expect life has to go a certain way – get a job, get married, have kids etc – but I think we can do things in whichever order we want, as well as leave behind or add in anything that might have once seemed unconventional.
It’s also easy to get stuck in a cycle of doing what other people expect of you. I think I’ve especially found that with my music career, as it is a different kind of path to take, so I didn’t really have any set guidelines and found myself leaning too heavily on what others thought I should do. I feel like this song and project marks the start of a new era where I’m doing what I want to do with my music. “
Steadily making a name for herself in New Zealand, Australia and across the world with her infectious brand of electronic indie pop, Isla Noon has announced her elevated new single I Need To Go Home, a deeply relatable track about feeling jaded at a party, released today. The exciting new artist has also released a dazzling video to accompany the song, directed by Swap Gomez and Oshara Ardelean of Umbrella Creative. I Need To Go Home follows Isla Noon’s glistening track Talk About Us, which has had over 50,000 streams on Spotify alone since its release.
I Need To Go Home is a brilliant testament to Isla Noon’s sheer skill as a lyricist – “I see a glistening line of spilled red wine like a runway to the door – I think I need to go home,” is so deeply affecting, a pretty twist of words that perfectly sum up that feeling of being totally preoccupied with leaving a night out. Evocative of pop queens Carly Rae Jepsen, Robyn and lyrical master Taylor Swift, I Need To Go Home is an irresistibly danceable tune – synths and sharp beats percolate underneath Isla Noon’s assured, unique vocal. Speaking on the conception of the track, Isla Noon explains, “The song tells the story of a night out where the illusion of a grand ideal is shattered; that moment you sober up to see a girl crying into her drink, the spilled wine all over the floor drying to a sticky sheen and a few lonely souls looking for connection on a dancefloor. More than anything, it’s a metaphor for confronting times in my life where I’ve pulled back the veneer on things I was taught to accept or expected to enjoy. The track speaks to a time where I had no choice but to listen to that inner voice – even if it meant leaving on my own.”
Sydney rockers Marvell have announced their most powerful single to date – Needle, a true journey of a song that describes the hardships, trauma and impossible hope that accompanies a cancer battle, released today. Accompanying the track is an equally affecting video, made in collaboration with Brae Fisher (Dear Seattle). Needle precedes Marvell’s new EP, Comfort Is King which is out now.
Needle is one of those songs that sticks with you long after the first listen. Bold, raw, defiant and brave, the track begins with a soft acoustic guitar and vocalist Max Marvell’s sole voice before interchanging vocals with his brother Tom in the second verse – symbolic in that cancer can be a lonely road, but a second voice joins in to support – then builds into a massive, full band climax, mimicking the often startling, always affecting journey that follows a cancer diagnosis. For Marvell, the song is deeply personal, as Max explains, “We wrote Needle when our then-drummer BJ was battling testicular cancer. We wanted to write about how we felt, imagining ourselves in his shoes and really trying to understand what he was going through, rather than just telling his story. The track starts as something contemplative, going through the fear and the uncertainty then quickly evolving into a more powerful song, daring at the possibility of hope. We wanted to blend the visceral, contradictory feelings of such a devastating situation with the sterile, procedural reality that we saw BJ going through. All in all, this track aims to capture that feeling of staring down the barrel of something terrible, when all the odds are against you, and saying fuck it – I’m going to give all I’ve got to make it through.”
Aussie festival fave Boo Seeka has just dropped another perfect, sun-soaked new track, Dream, a song for escapists, for daydreamers, for those hoping, wishing for a different world. Dream is a stunning return to Boo Seeka’s electro-pop roots, and follows the versatile artist’s most recent single, the affecting, melancholy, acoustic track Tripwire. Both singles are set to appear on the new Boo Seeka LP, scheduled for release in 2022. Boo Seeka will be hitting the road to play Byron Bay Beach Hotel, Queens Wharf Hotel Newcastle and Beyond The Cityin Melbourne through December, and will be jumping on the For The Love lineup that’ll take in Gold Coast, Wollongong, Melbourne and Perth in Feb and March 2022.
Dream sparkles, glistens; it demonstrates such a nuanced and impressive knowledge of pop song writing paired with classic electronic production – Boo Seeka quite literally has it all. His soft, assured vocals offer hook after hook atop a sharp, shining bed of metallic beats. It’s easy to imagine this track going off at a summer festival, crowd heaving, moving in sync towards the drop. Speaking on the conception of the track, Boo reflects on some of his influences: “Given that the world is now stranger than it probably ever has been, indulging in the obscurities of life has been super important for my writing process. A world created by my imagination whilst sleeping is what inspired Dream, and was something that felt very easy to write down on paper. Also, I don’t usually listen to a lot of music when I’m creating, but for this song it was different. Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap was playing when I first started putting pen to paper, and I found myself putting the song on repeat while I wrote the whole track. This was the start of everything for this track.”
sunbleached, Brissy’s latest post-hardcore/alternative phenoms, are releasing their two-track Rose-Tinted on all digital stores and streaming platforms today! The dual-release features single Flowers Grow from Ugly Places that dropped back in October and heralded this EP.
The single comes with a sunny/retro vibes film clip that sees the band surrounded by roses, disco balls and plastic as they deliver the melancholy anthem of a track.
Vocalist Josh Baker says that “Rose Tinted is written from the perspective of a person in an abusive relationship that is being victimized by their counterpart, they seem willing to receive maltreatment because they love them and maybe they don’t know any better. It’s quite a sad story really, and it’s something I’ve experienced first hand and seen my friends go through at various stages of their lives.
Back in early 2020, the now members of sunbleached were winding down from previous music projects – and set out to create a fresh and authentic alternative rock sound inspired from decades passed and reimagined.”
The Sleepyheads share their new single Sonder – a touching sonic exploration. The new single arrives as a taste of the Tasmanian group’s debut album Something to Balance the Sonder, due to be released early next year.
“‘Sonder’ is written from the perspective of someone who is disassociating at a party, and just absorbing the conversations and happenings around them,” explains lead vocalist and guitarist Pat Broxton. “This song is one that we are very proud of as a band. It has some new elements and ideas that we hadn’t explored before we began writing.”
It’s been another busy year for Fanny Lumsden. Amid the disruption of cancelling/rescheduling the majority of her Country Halls Tour, Paul Kelly NSW/QLD tour & festival slots, a forced break in the Northern Territory due to lockdown/border closures resulted in a very long round the country road trip back home (with caravan in tow) – all the while being heavily pregnant. Aside from this was the joy of winning 5 x Golden Guitars back in January, an AIR Award for Best Independent Country Album (fallow), the recent nomination of ‘Dig’ for CMT Video of the Year at the 2022 50th Golden Guitar Awards, along with Fanny’s inclusion in ABC TV’s two-part ‘Going Country’ documentary… and now a BABY to add to the excitement!
Capping the year off with another nod to her stunning album fallow, Fanny once more brings the characters to light in her videos – whether it’s depicting the local mechanic, butcher, or Big Rig driving pregnant bride as seen in her new video for Tidy Town.
‘Tidy Town is a song about the classic tale of ‘don’t be too quick to judge’, and how cliches always seem to cloud our view of the truth, and although they have their place there is always more to the story. We wanted to capture this in the Tidy Town Clip, by almost making the visuals confusing. 38 weeks pregnant, in a wedding dress, driving a B Double is not really what you expect, but it really paints the picture of there clearly being more to the story, so you have to trust and go with it. This tidy town it’s got nothing to hide, but there’s more than meets the eye’
Captivating singer-songwriter Georgia Lines has unveiled her stunningly emotive new single and video I Got You out now. Layered in dreamy, atmospheric strings which floats over a chilled groove, I Got You is hook-laden in melody, performed by Georgia’s uniquely soaring vocals. The Tauranga-based artist is compelling in her storytelling, reflecting on change, loss, acceptance and letting go.
“At the time there were so many things in my world that were changing, including dealing with the grief of losing a family member,” says Georgia. “It felt like life was becoming a game of giant jenga with so many pieces being pulled out from under me, whilst trying to hold everything together. ‘I Got You’ is about the process of learning to let go, whilst continuing to hold onto the few things that you know to be true.”
Co-written and produced by Djeisan Suskov (BENEE, Matthew Young, Mitch James, LEISURE), I Got You is the very first song the now prolific duo wrote together in 2020. Written fresh out of Aotearoa’s first lockdown, the track is reflective of Georgia’s growth mindset in navigating the challenges of pursuing a career in music during a pandemic.
Dashboard Confessional has unveiled the official music video for their inspiring new single, Here’s To Moving On. The touching new video is out now following its exclusive premiere earlier via Consequence’s Origins.
“It’s been one hell of a year for us all (and then some),” says DC founder, frontman, and songwriter Chris Carrabba. “I hope this song can be a small reminder that no matter what challenges life might throw at us today, it’s always worth fighting for a better tomorrow. I feel so very fortunate to be able to share this with you. To the incredible team at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making that possible.”
The song roars to life with the sound of an engine rumbling into action. Then Dave Leslie’s distinctive guitar sets the scene … welcome to Make Hay, the debut single for Truck.
This is the new band for two mainstays of the Aussie rock scene – Horsehead’s Andy McLean and Baby Animals’ Dave Leslie. Today they share the video for Make Hay.
“We had a ball shooting this clip with our dear mate Peter Pilley behind the camera …and I reckon you can tell. He had shown us a story board of what he had in mind & we loved it from the start …we just had to show up to a warehouse & perform in front of a green screen. I think it captures the feel of the band & song perfectly …good music, good times. Long live rock & roll!” says Andy McLean, Truck
Mixed by the legendary Kevin “Caveman” Shirley (Aerosmith, Baby Animals, Cold Chisel, Led Zeppelin, Silverchair), Make Hay is the first single from Truck’s debut EP, Lighthill, which will be released early 2022 on Reckless Records.
Adelaide’s master of brooding pop, MANE, returns with a brand-new single, Hi Lo out now via Dew Process and Universal Music Australia. The single, her first release of 2021, boasts MANE’s deep and rich vocals set against a backdrop of sparkly pop beats and synths, with the incomparable edge that has permeated her music throughout her career.
Despite its undeniably infectious chorus that seems destined for radio love and playlist celebration, Hi Lo comes from an incredibly introspective and emotional place. Written at the start of 2021 with collaborator Pip Norman, the song tackles MANE’s (real name Paige Renee Court) ongoing relationship to her mental health and the journey that she has taken to address the positives and negatives that come with that exploration.
“Essentially the song is a letter to myself and my mental health journey and the highs and the lows of coming to be at a place where I’m comfortable accepting that. My mental health is an ongoing journey, so that’s what the song itself is about. I don’t think that was my initial intention to write about that but as Pip was putting together the music that’s what it felt like it sounded like to me and it was a really relevant to me in terms of what I was going through at the time.
“Once I’d decided that’s what I was going to write about, I decided to look within but write it as if it was about a person, a separate person, rather than something that actually attached to me. When you listen to the song it plays out it’s as if it’s talking about a person rather than it being about my feelings. I wanted to separate myself from the feelings, but I think it perfectly sums up everything I felt at that time and what I still feel now. When I listen back to it now it is still a song that I feel very proud of.”
After releasing their digital EP WE ARE NØT OKAY in early 2021, rising German-Austrian nu-metal stars OCEANS recently unveiled their new digital single Sulfur via Nuclear Blast.
They return with yet another pummelling, driving, yet melodic and most of all melancholic anthem, titled The Awakening.
Timo Rotten comments: “’The Awakening’ is a love letter to the people who are here for us at our darkest. At that moment when you hit rock bottom and fall into the void of nothingness. No hope, no light, just emptiness. But then someone reaches out and pulls you out of this misery. We want to thank you. You know who you are!”
ACCEPT is celebrating Wolf Hoffmann’s birthday and his present to YOU is this live version of Overnight Sensation. ACCEPT is looking forward to seeing you at one of the numerous summer festivals in 2022!
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