Maple Glider – You’re Still the One
For fans of: Julia Jacklin, Lucy Dacus, Angie McMahon
It begins with darkness and emerges, slowly, into the light. Minor-key acoustic strums make way for a gentle, glorious rendition of Shania Twain’s classic 90s love song, heaped with sumptuous harmonies. It’s simple, but therein lies the beauty – Melbourne musician Tori Zietsch has a soothing way of singing that creates a feeling of complete emotional safety, with vocals silky and soaring. Long live love – and that’s coming from a cynic who might just believe again after hearing this. – Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
For more: Listen to Maple Glider’s 2021 album, To Enjoy is the Only Thing.
Straight Arrows – Fast Product
For fans of: Osees, Wavves, Stiff Richards
Four years since their last album On Top!, Sydney garage quartet Straight Arrows make a welcome return here. And they’ve lost none of their vim or vigour since their charming 2010 debut, It’s Happening: Fast Product marches out of the gate quicker than that album’s favourite Bad Temper. The sound is cleaner, but it’s still catchy, economical and addictive – as the chorus amps up, you just eat it up and spit it out again (then hit repeat). Their aim is true. – Andrew Stafford
For more: They’ve just released an album of live tracks – performed at Sydney’s Lansdowne in 2021.
Cub Sport – Keep Me Safe
For fans of: Perfume Genius, Moses Sumney, Wolf Alice
Love, for Cub Sport, has always been a religious act, leaving you so drunk on devotion that it impedes any logical way of being. On Keep Me Safe, lead singer Tim Nelson revisits the love that has defined their life and career: their relationship with bandmate Sam Netterfield, which began as a repressed crush before blooming into their music. “I just wanna die in our heaven,” a pitched-down Nelson warbles – a paean to the intertwined ecstasy and agony of desire. – Michael Sun
For more: Their new album – the appropriately titled Jesus at the Gay Bar, is out in April … on Good Friday.
Teether and Kuya Neil – RENO
For fans of: Billy Woods, Wu-Lu
The latest single from Melbourne rapper/producer duo Teether and Kuya Neil is a sharp left turn, finding Teether rapping over frantic breaks and an irregular, heart-palpitating beat that feels indebted to footwork. There’s an atmospheric seaminess to proceedings here that wasn’t present on the pair’s 2021 mixtape Glyph. At the same time, it feels like their most direct nod to mainstream rap yet, even though it comes in-built with the acknowledgment that this music is coming far from the centre: “If we had cash, we could get it all built.” – Shaad D’Souza
For more: Their new mixtape Stressor drops 3 February. In the meantime, listen to their 2021 mixtape Glyph.
Lachlan Denton – Lose
For fans of: the Ocean Party, the Clean, the Feelies
The prolific Melbourne musician returns with a sanguine single that probes a specific contemporary conundrum: how to protect yourself from the weight of the world’s ills. Directed to a friend in a slump, overwhelmed with the unrelenting chatter around them, the song offers simple advice we could all benefit from: “Close your laptop / call a friend / don’t let them take you ‘round the bend.” The song is charming and ebullient, full of brisk jangle riffs, effortless melodies and simple, urgent lyrics that get to the heart of the matter. – Isabella Trimboli
For more: Listen to Emma Russack’s and Denton’s brilliant 2021 record, titled Something Is Going to Change Tomorrow, Today. What Will You Do? What Will You Say?
The Kid Laroi – I Can’t Go Back to the Way It Was (Intro)
For fans of: Juice WLRD, Lil Peep, iann dior
Since his early teens, the Kid Laroi has been turning angst into a spectacle of stratospheric proportions: taking the zonked-out melancholia of his SoundCloud forebears and arming it with a fleet of stadium-ready hooks. This is the first taste of his new album (his debut, after a trio of mixtapes) and in true Laroi style, it’s lugubrious and self-effacing, lamenting both lost friendships and childhood trauma – before ballooning outwards at breakneck speed, with thundering drums and a gospel choir straight out of Euphoria. – Michael Sun
For more: the Kid Laroi’s album The First Time is out later this year. Another single, Love Again, is out now.
Babitha – Brighter Side of Blue
For fans of: Big Thief, Cowboy Junkies, Gillian Welch
A gentle and bittersweet ballad, Brighter Side of Blue is a highlight from Sydney songwriter Babitha’s (real name Imogen Grist) debut record of the same name, which plants itself somewhere between alt-country and rock. With tender vocals that crackle with melancholy, Grist sings about someone afraid to follow in the footsteps of troubled, flawed parents – and how one might tear themselves away from this trajectory. It’s rendered in perfect country vernacular – with lines about swallowing one’s pride and refusing to feel defeated. – Isabella Trimboli
For more: Listen to Babitha’s debut album Brighter Side of Blue.
Memphis LK – Too Much Fun
For fans of: Pinkpantheress, Mallrat
Too Much Fun channels the free-associative, slightly absurdist looseness of a post-breakup bender. Over a wistful two-step beat, Melbourne producer and songwriter Memphis LK warns she’s “having too much fun now you’re gone” and proceeds to prove it with a verse that’s both illustrative and masterfully silly: “Real pain for my sham friends / Poppin’ champagne with my real friends in your absence.” No naggy ex ever deserved such a great kiss-off. – Shaad D’Souza
For more: Her EP of the same title is out now.
Mo’Ju – Money
For fans of: Genesis Owusu, Sampa the Great, Jen Cloher
Money is the second single ahead of the release of Oro, Plata, Mata, the fourth album by the artist formerly known as Mojo Juju. It’s quite unlike the updated, snapping 70s funk of its predecessor Change Has To Come, but still incredibly self-assured and imaginative, built on layered, burbling synths and another magnetic vocal performance, with Mo’Ju interrogating how even the most committed artists are inescapably enmeshed within end-stage capitalism. It’s an old topic, perhaps, but also a very fresh take. – Andrew Stafford
For more: Oro, Plata, Mata is out on 24 March. Mo’Ju will be performing the album in its entirety with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on 21 February, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on 17 March.
Huntly – My Limits
For fans of: Banoffee, Caribou, Billie Eilish
Auto-Tune isn’t often called tasteful, but it’s an apt way to describe its use on Melbourne electronic duo Huntly’s new single. Alternating between the manipulated and the natural, Elspeth Scrine sings tenderly about honouring boundaries – your own, other people’s – over a bed of glittering synths. Halfway through, the sonic landscape expands, luscious and dreamlike, with subtle, tinkling keys. Like a soft blanket, this song invites you to settle in and take your time. – Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
For more: Huntly’s second album, Sentimental Still, is out 3 February.
