Friday Mix Tape #1
Thank god it’s Friday, here’s some new tunes to kick start the weekend…
Poppy, Amy Lee, and Courtney LaPlante — three of rock’s most prominent signature voices — join forces on a brand new single, End of You, out now via Sumerian Records. Alongside the song, the trio also share an absolutely badass music video.
End of You is a musical tour de force from three artists at the top of their game. Last week, they teased the project with a cryptic joint Instagram post, creating major anticipation. In the accompanying video, Poppy, Amy and Courtney conjure powerful dark energy and even more powerful messages as they sing “the end of you is the start of life for me.”
Break out your roller skates and disco balls, because Scene Queen is throwing a party and you’re all invited. Scene Queen, aka Hannah Collins, is ready to dazzle with an all new track: Platform Shoes. The sassy new song takes aim at the fragile egos of men. “Free platform shoes for insecure men,” Collins joked on social media ahead of the release. The bubblegum metal banger immediately puts fragile masculinity in its place – and maybe even six inches higher.
Australian fans can catch Scene Queen this December performing as part of Good Things Festival.
SCENE QUEEN SHARES OF THE NEW TRACK:
“As my final instalment of disco summer, I wanted to make a song I felt like a lot of women can relate to. Having the massive personality I do, I noticed while dating, a lot of men think they want someone who is independent and opinionated. That charisma is something you’re initially attracted to, but as time goes on, a lot of men start to feel insecure that they’re not the “alpha” in the relationship. They’re about equality until it makes them question their masculinity. This song is about not letting men like this make you smaller. And I say all that in the most me way I could’ve, calling those men short. Because at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how tall a guy is – men take note – it’s about how confident a man is that makes them hot.” – Scene Queen
Hot off the heels of their surprise summer EP, uLu Selects Vol #2, indie-favorites Portugal. The Man is back with the buzzing new track, Denali. Thick distorted synths and grunge-guitar grind beneath frontman John Gourley’s slick vocals. The Alaskan-bred, Portland-based band calls back to their roots with the new track, named after the renowned Alaskan mountain.
Earlier this summer, Portugal. The Man dropped their surprise EP uLu Selects Vol #2, which found the band pulling back the curtain, delivering a blisteringly honest collection of sonic exorcisms. Across its four tracks, the band leaned fully into discomfort, vulnerability, and the warped pop sensibility that only Portugal. The Man can offer.
Following the recent announcement of their debut album, Everything Every Single Day, arriving on Oct 3, The Rions share their new single Cry.
Always inspired to convey their authentic voice and perspective through their lyrics, Cry sees The Rions challenge the prevalent cycle of toxic masculinity: authority figures making excuses for bad behaviour, allowing injustice to perpetuate across generations. But instead of a call out, The Rions take the opportunity to call in, singing, “I don’t know why we let this slide/excuses won’t make this right”.
“We wrote ‘Cry’ about the dangerous and very real cycle of ‘attitude’ passed from father to son,” the band share. “Something as simple as ‘casual jokes’ being thrown around at the pub, or around the dinner table can be much more harmful than you think. Young men need to be taught to take accountability for our actions, now more than ever. There’s no more room for excuses. Pull up your friends, do better.”
14-time GRAMMY, Oscar and Emmy Award winner Lady Gaga released the music video for her new single The Dead Dance, which she debuted last night. The project marks her first creative collaboration with visionary director Tim Burton, who brought the story to life on location at Isla de las Muñecas—Mexico’s infamous Island of the Dolls. The cinematic video shifts between stark black-and-white and bursts of vivid color, weaving eerie imagery of dolls with Gaga’s commanding performance. The video was produced by Gaga and Michael Polansky, alongside Burton and Natalie Testa. Costumes were designed by Colleen Atwood, with choreography from Parris Goebel and featured choreography from Corey Baker.
Produced by Gaga alongside Andrew Watt and Cirkut, Gaga debuted The Dead Dance last night while it was simultaneously featured in Netflix’s Wednesday Season 2 (Part 2), where she makes a cameo as the mysterious Rosaline Rotwood. Gaga shared “the inspiration for ‘The Dead Dance’ was a breakup, and it was all about the way that we sometimes feel when it’s over; how a relationship ending can kill our ability to feel hopeful about love. It’s got this really cool, funky beat underneath it. And that is when the song becomes not just about the relationship; it becomes about having fun with your friends when you’ve been through something tough and amazing. I can’t wait for people to listen to it.”
Naarm/Melbourne based artist Harper Bloom has unveiled her latest indie-pop earworm Girl Like You. The colourful new track is the second arrival from Harper’s forthcoming EP House Of Cards due for release in October.
Bringing her beaming energy to BIGSOUND 2025 in September, both industry and fans alike will get to experience Girl Like You in live form at the largest music industry gathering in the Southern Hemisphere.
Girl Like You sees Harper swept up in the allure of a mysterious woman, drawn to her with a magnetic pull. With an addictively groove-infused bassline and peculiar lyrics, you can’t resist the urge to follow along for the ride.
Harper shared, “Tim Cox and I wrote this track at the end of last year. We were watching this woman on the street, she was behaving in this erratic and deviant way, and I got this idea of being around a woman that you know is dangerous, but the danger kind of allures you and lights a little fire, even though your body is telling you to stay away. We wrote the track from that idea, so the verse lyrics are about the encounters with a dangerous woman and the chorus is about having fun really and it turned into one of the biggest tracks on the EP (big thanks to Ed Quinn for a huge help in fleshing out the production to make it more of a party anthem). We love playing it live!! And of course, we had to touch on croissants and inflation …. we love a bit of quirk in the lyrics”
Beloved Adelaide rapper, singer, and songwriter Allday has returned with his new single underneath, a slinky, layered cut that continues the rollout of his highly anticipated next album. Known for blending moody hip hop with sharp wit and raw honesty, Allday delivers once again with a track that showcases his evolution as a charismatic storyteller and creator.
“underneath is the next in the Allday album roll out. a bit slinky and with trademark intricate bars and multi layered meanings.”
Musically, underneath leans into Allday’s talent for balancing atmosphere with detail. Built on a sultry, low-lit beat, the track threads slick wordplay through shifting textures, creating a song that is equal parts hypnotic and introspective. It’s a confident reminder of the depth in Allday’s catalogue and the unique space he continues to carve within modern hip hop.
One of Australia’s most celebrated bands, The Black Sorrows, are releasing For Your Love – a single lifted from their forthcoming album, The Quintessential Black Sorrows – out on Friday 24th October.
Says Joe Camilleri, “For Your Love is a love song wrapped in poetry built on poetic images of gold, roses and the keys to the kingdom. Because that’s just how love feels sometimes. We cut the song with the band live in the room – no tricks – just trying to get the good groove. It’s romantic, always feels lovely to sing. It’s The Sorrows doing what we do best.”
The Quintessential Black Sorrows is a handpicked journey through the soul, grit and timeless genre-defying songwriting fire that has made them one of Australia’s most enduring bands. Curated by Joe Camilleri, the double album spans decades and celebrates the songwriting partnership of Joe and Nick Smith as well as the musicians who have made the journey. The collection of songs commemorates the past but more than that it proves The Sorrows are still writing their best chapter.
Multi-Platinum singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin returns with his first new music in nearly a year, the long-awaited fan favorite The Knife in My Back, available everywhere now via Atlantic Records.
Benjamin’s legion of devoted fans have been clamoring for The Knife in My Back ever since he first shared the original demo over seven years ago. The original YouTube upload has generated over 9.5M views, with other fan-created visuals boasting over 20M additional views. In addition, the original sounds have inspired more than 8K creates.
“I wrote ‘The Knife in My Back’ during one of the most painful chapters of my life – when a friendship I had long treasured was unraveling because of a betrayal I never saw coming,” says Alec Benjamin. “Over time, performing it live became a way for me to process those feelings and share that vulnerability with audiences. I’ve workshopped it on stage for a while now, and I’m so excited for people to finally hear the finished version – the way I always imagined it.”
The Belair Lip Bombs—the Australian quartet of Maisie Everett, Mike Bradvica, Jimmy Droughton, and Daniel “Dev” Devlin—release Don’t Let Them Tell You (It’s Fair), the second single/video from their new album, Again, out October 31st via Third Man Records (the first Australian release on the label).
Following lead single, Hey You, currently the third most played song on triple j, was praised by PAPER as “sassy and cagey, animated by fast, totally windswept production,” ‘Don’t Let Them Tell You (It’s Fair)’ is a grooving mid-tempo rocker which urges the listener to say whatever they need to say with their full chest. “It’s about not letting anyone walk all over you,” Maisie explains. “Have confidence in what you’re doing and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Reflecting on the writing the song, she says: “I was messing around on my guitar with the Keith Richards tuning when I came up with the intro riff. The line ‘you gotta make your own luck’ came from my friend Alex Lahey. I remember meeting up with her a couple of years ago for the first time. I had a really inspiring conversation with her that day. We talked about all things music – the different challenges that she’d had to overcome in her musical career. And I remember her saying to me, ‘You have to make your own luck.’ I don’t know why, but it really stuck with me. You have to believe in yourself and you have to always work hard, but the hard work only works if you believe in yourself at the same time.”
With the release of Baker Boy’s new album DJANDJAY (pron. Jan-jay) fast approaching, the multi-award winning Yolŋu superstar, unveils a brand-new single THICK SKIN lifted from his highly anticipated second LP out on Friday Oct 10th (via Island Records/Universal Music). Pre-order now from here.
A defiant anthem of survival and solidarity, THICK SKIN features a powerhouse Blak choir that includes Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee’ahn, and Jada Weazel. Born from the pain and frustration after the 2023 Indigenous Voice Referendum, the track confronts the ongoing presence of racism in Australia.“It wasn’t anger at the result as much, I think it was the way mob became a topic of conversation and motos like ‘if you don’t know vote no’ encouraging ignorance. It highlighted the everyday experience of being Yolŋu, being Indigenous in this country and that hit me hard.” shares Baker Boy.
Sonically, Baker Boy boldly leans into punk for the first time, while still rapping in his first language Yolŋu Matha. He explains, “I had been wanting to explore the punk sound for a while and this felt like the perfect track for me to let loose in that space. It’s not natural for me to express anger through my music, I have this reputation for positivity, but I think the punk inspired production allowed me to really say what I wanted to say. It has let me express these feelings, express the anger, the chaos and frustration in a way that’s new and experimental for me but also in a way that was really authentic, it just came out of me.”
Of Monsters and Men return with a double release: Dream Team and The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road – lifted from All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade, their first full-length album in six years, arriving October 17 via Skarkali Records.
Dream Team picks up where the band’s debut single Television Love left off, exploring the push and pull of vulnerability and self-preservation while fusing raw lyricism with carefree energy in their signature blend of atmosphere and nostalgia. Adding to its resonance, Dream Team will also appear on the big screen in the upcoming Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell film A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, in theatres September 19.
Released alongside it, The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road turns inward, offering a tender reflection on the past – moments, people, and places that linger like a distant skyscraper, quietly shaping who you’ve become. By releasing both tracks on the same day, the band underscores the album’s central narrative of love and pain: Dream Team captures the exhilaration of love, while The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road confronts the lingering ache of memory, revealing how joy and heartbreak are inseparable.
Speaking on the release, the band shares: “’Dream Team’ is built on a piano part that our drummer, Arnar, played for us. It instantly gave us this carefree, nostalgic feeling. It feels like bouncing through town without a care in the world. The lyrics paint a different picture: It’s an inner dialog of someone going through ranges of emotions. Bouncing from one feeling to another. Feeling extremely happy and confident while also feeling this immense sadness and dread. ‘The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road’ is about growing up and growing apart, it’s a song that looks at the past with kind eyes.”
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