Category: Music

EDGE RADIO RECOMMENDED: Baker Boy - 'Gela'

25/10/2021

Baker Boy was first introduced to adoring fans in 2017, with the one-two punch of debut singles ‘Cloud 9’ featuring Kian, and ‘Marryuna, featuring Yirrmal. The entirety of Baker Boy’s art, from his infectious flow to his music’s modern-throwback production to the jaw-dropping dance moves he perfected as part of the Djuki Mala dance troupe, connected instantly.

It is no small statement releasing your debut album. Gela, with its eponymous nature, feels like yet an even bigger statement. Gela is Danzal Baker’s skin name. To put it simply, it is his identity, “Gela is who I am. It is my story.” There could be no other name to describe these foundational tracks, which include singles ‘Cool As Hell’, ‘Meditjin feat. JessB’, ‘Move’, ‘Ride feat. Yirrmal’, ‘My Mind feat. G Flip’ and ‘Butterflies’. Just as these songs tell the unique tale of Australia’s most joyful and energetic performer, so does the accompanying artwork by Adnate. The perfect representation of Gela’s duality, the artwork is further brought to life by a new AR filter released on Baker Boy’s Instagram here.

Release: October 15th, 2021, Island Records
Words: Island Records

EDGE RADIO RECOMMENDED: Moaning Lisa - 'Something Like This But Not This'

18/10/2021

Alt rock four-piece Moaning Lisa have released their much-anticipated debut album Something Like This But Not This. It’s a labour of love that arrives some five years into the band’s arc, in the wake of not only two EPs but an entire relocation from their native Kamberra / Canberra to the new surrounds of Naarm / Melbourne.

When looking at most debut albums, the context is primarily destination-based – the here, the now, the immediate impact. In the case of Moaning Lisa, however, the framework shifts to that of the journey. This weight of expectation is reflected in the album's title. Something Like This But Not This is a line from “Inadequacy,” the loud-quiet-loud alt-rocker which served as the record's second single.

Even with such mileage and momentum backing the LP the band confess that their story in the lead-up to it is not that dissimilar to other debut albums. “It's kind of quintessential, in a way,” says Charlie Versegi, the band's lead vocalist and guitarist. “You really do have your whole life to write your first album – there are songs on here that even predate Moaning Lisa itself. Some tracks have been around since our earliest days, others came literally weeks before we went into the studio.”

The band recorded Something Like This But Not This at Golden Retriever Studios in Sydney with Ben Moore. When the reality of the impending pandemic hit them, they returned to Melbourne and were forced to complete the record closer to home with the assistance of Lunatics On Pogosticks frontman Calum “Candy” Newton in his home studio. So, fittingly, the album's final form became something like what the band had set out to make, but ultimately not it.

“I hope people walk away from this album knowing that their feelings – whatever they're feeling or experiencing – is not new,” said singer-bassist Hayley Manwaring. “Music has a way of eliciting these shared emotions. We're all together in the way that we feel and process things as humans, and it's very real.”

Versegi adds: “I think it's a very no-bullshit, cutthroat record. I think every single song has that as a common thread; straight to the point, no fucking around. It's an album that's defiantly rooted in reality.”

Many feelings arise when listening to Something Like This But Not This. There's excitement, tenderness and vulnerability, seething tension and military precision. Really, if Moaning Lisa hope you get anything out of this record it's two things: Being seen, and being heard.

“Raw emotion is something that we really do share; all of us.” said Manwaring. “We want you to be present; to know what it is that is happening and confront it. Those painful experiences, those negative emotions, those feelings of self-doubt... feel them. Go through it, because you have to. Own your shit,” concludes Versegi.

Release: October 8th, 2021, Farmer & The Owl/BMG
Words: Farmer & The Owl

EDGE RADIO RECOMMENDED: Mike Noga - 'Open Fire'

11/10/2021

Mike Noga's fourth album, Open Fire was recorded in August 2019 at Sacred Heart Studios in Duluth, Minnesota with Alan Sparhawk (Low) in the producer's seat. Open Fire is an apocalyptic, synth-heavy, rock and roll record and follows on from Noga's critically acclaimed concept album, King.

Mike Noga passed away on 26 August 2020. His death was accidental and attributed to a rare condition that caused a cerebral haemorrhage, a condition exacerbated by bouts of heavy drinking. Mike had a lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression which became particularly difficult in the last three years of his life. His family are incredibly proud of this album, for its ambition, beauty and nuance. His passing has left his family and friends with a massive void that might be partly filled with his incredible body of music. A gift to us all.

Open Fire was written in Noga's hometown of Hobart. Writing to a friend during the recording process Mike reflected “Sonically and thematically there’s a healthy dose of impending doom about the state of the world running through the songs…I constantly have the Velvet Underground in mind when I'm writing for this album. Pop... but with a weird, dark twist.”

The album features the recently released lead single and centrepiece of the album Open Fire - a big Springsteen-esque rocker. A little bit about revenge, a lot about the impending end of the world.

"I've spent the last two years writing this album and it's an absolute dream come true to get to work with one of my songwriting heroes, Alan Sparhawk. Alan's unique style and penchant for twisting music and words into beautiful and uncomfortable forms is the perfect fit for this batch of songs. It also doesn't hurt that he's one of my favourite vocalists, guitar players and lyricists in the world and has offered to lend his incredible voice to the album".

Noga and Low toured Europe, Australia and New Zealand together in 2016 and became friends, with Sparhawk offering to produce Noga's next album in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota.

Reflecting on the experience Alan Sparhawk said, ”Mike reached out. When people say they are reaching out most of the time they’re really holding in and wanting something but, for Mike reaching out was a giving and vulnerable gesture. I had seen him play before but our first meeting was on a tour where that common shared timeline carves deep and eternal friendships grow quickly. Mike’s eye for style and the relentless heart he put into every song inspired us, while his generous friendship and vulnerability made us stronger people. Plans were made. Mike had all these songs figured out; how he wanted them to sound and what needed to be done to achieve that so, once he’d arrived in Duluth work went fast. He put in long hours, pushed through doubt, worked out glitches and found the transcendence he so desperately hungered for, all the while sharing and inviting us into the journey. I feel we were witness to magic and for a moment Mike found a way to unravel the message he had held so tightly clutched in his hand. A true talent, gentleman and champion.”

Mike Noga on Open Fire - "It was a long and at times difficult process this one. I’m actually just proud of myself for being able to write another album’s worth of material, even if it did take years! I’m super proud of this album. I think it’s the best I’ve ever done. My global warming, apocalyptic, mid-life crisis album. Wooo! I was surprised on listening back at how much I mention “when I was young” or reference being young. I didn’t realise it when writing it. It’s always interesting to me when the album reveals itself and even I realise what the over-arching theme is. The subconscious is a powerful thing. I totally love Alan’s production. His stamp is all over this album and it feels like the next logical step for me after King.”

“There was nothing quite like watching Mike unleash his talent and creativity, whether he was brandishing a pair of drumsticks or a guitar or a mic stand, he did it all with total abandon and it was always a total pleasure to get lost in the music with him. As a songwriter, Mike was every bit as bold and uncompromising and 'Open Fire' is the sound of an artist with no limits to his ambition or scope. It's a big widescreen album, full of darkness and full of light, and it's a beautiful thing to get lost in.” Paul Dempsey, Something For Kate.

Release: October 8th, 2021, Part Time Records/Remote Control
Words: Part Time Records

EDGE RADIO RECOMMENDED: Marcus Whale - 'The Hunger'

4/10/2021

The Hunger, Marcus Whale's spectacular third solo album, is out to the world via DERO ARCADE. Its nine tracks tell the story of the longing and desire between a vampire and his pitiful human slave, known as a 'familiar'.

The Hunger is linked to a long collaboration with artists Athena Thebus and Chloe Corkran, who create costumes and sets that translate Whale's music into iconographic, exaggerated, camp forms, often working with the figures of the cowboy, the satyr and the devil.

Marcus Whale lives and works on Gadigal land in Sydney, Australia. His work, which straddles music and performance, often stages encounters between camp performance styles and the heightened drama of horror film and religious mythology, scripture and liturgy.

Otherwise known for his leftfield pop duo Collarbones and club-centric electronic group BV (alongside DJ Plead and Cassius Select), Whale's solo material surrounds his dramatic vocal delivery with an immersive soundworld of body-shaking electronics and chamber orchestral flourishes.

His solo albums include 2016's Inland Sea, produced with Nigel Yang (HTRK) and 2020's Lucifer, the culmination of a series of performances that cast the fallen angel as a queer icon. In collaboration with artists Athena Thebus & Chloe Corkran, these performances were presented as part of Sydney Contemporary, Art Month Sydney, Day For Night and Sugar Mountain Festival. These projects have been nominated for SMAC Awards, AIR Independent Music Awards and the Australian Music Prize.

Release: September 3rd, 2021, Dero Arcade
Words: Brain Drain PR

EDGE RADIO RECOMMENDED: Low - 'HEY WHAT'

27/9/2021

HEY WHAT, the astonishing new Low album, has been released via Sub Pop Records.

HEY WHAT is Low’s thirteenth full-length release in twenty-seven years, and their third with producer BJ Burton. The new album finds the group focusing on their craft, staying out of the fray, and holding fast their faith to find new ways to express the discord and delight of being alive, to turn the duality of existence into hymns we can share. These ten pieces - each built around their own instantaneous, undeniable hook - are turbocharged by the vivid textures that surround them. The ineffable, familiar harmonies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker break through the chaos like a life raft. Layers of distorted sound accrete with each new verse - building, breaking, colossal then restrained, a solemn vow only whispered. There will be time to unravel and attribute meaning to the music and art of these times, but the creative moment looks FORWARD, with teeth.

Release: September 13th, 2021, Sub Pop Records
Words: Sub Pop

EDGE RADIO RECOMMENDS: Bad Bangs - 'Character Building'

20/9/2021

Melbourne’s Bad Bangs sound like the band you wanna be in.

Kicking around since 2016, the foursome make delectable, sunny garage-rock that unabashedly toes the line between sophistication and total chaos. Bad Bangs may wear their influences on their bell-sleeves, but their lush tones and introspective, relatable lyrics signal a refreshing new direction for the genre in a similar style to contemporaries The Murlocs, Cate Le Bon and Ty Segall.

Shelby De Fazio and Sophia Lubczenko (Sledgehammer, Sagamore) share front woman duties, exchanging fuzzed out guitar shreds with gritty, soulful vocals. Performing a brilliant balancing act of plonky yet tight-as-hell rhythms are Ben Leahy (Quality Used Cars) on bass and Tim Ryles (Foggy Notion) on drums. Having earned themselves a solid reputation in the Melbourne music scene, Bad Bangs live highlights include sharing the stage with artists Cash Savage and The Last Drinks and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, and playing esteemed local events St Kilda Festival and Brunswick Music Festival.

With generous support from The City of Melbourne, the band have spent the last little while working on their debut album in alliance with producer and engineer John Lee (Laura Jean, Blake Scott, Bananagun, Emma Russack). Character Building is a collection of nine songs that take Bad Bangs’ sound to soaring new heights.

Release: September 3rd, 2021, Blossom Rot Records
Words: Blossom Rot Records

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