The Griswolds, “Heart Of A Lion”
TBD, 2012
Hyperactive single from Sydney band The Griswolds is an indie jungle mess of thick bass and catchy earworm hooks.
Tumbling vocal lines make a necessary festival sing along yell, but it’s the riotous feel of the drums that will make you want to throw some paint at the wall.
Neil Young, “Twisted Road”
TBD, 2013
During a recent performance in Colorado, Neil Young unveiled “Twisted Road”, a new track taken presumably from his upcoming record (due out sometime in 2013).
Over a salty, thwacking acoustic, Young digs back into his musical past, reminiscing about hearing Dylan for the first time, and likening the poetry of it to ‘Hank Williams chewing bubblegum’. He may point at other tracks by Sam Cooke and The Grateful Dead, but the dusty guitar and the vocal twang hint at nothing else but Neil Young.
Grizzly Bear, “Yet Again”
Shields
Taken from their upcoming record, Shields (due out September 17), “Yet Again” is a slice of nostalgic indie brilliance.
Over a sea of jangly guitars and cymbals, singer Ed Droste sings to the lonely “Yet again we’re the only ones” before leading Grizzly Bear into a slow burning psych jam that blends the electronic with some good ol’ amp feedback.
Muse, “Madness”
The 2nd Law
After the Olympic gusher that was “Survivor”, and the shattering dubstep of “Unsustainable”, Muse have released another track from their upcoming record, The 2nd Law.
Pushing further into the realms of dubstep, “Madness” sees Matt Bellamy crooning over a subtle wobbling backing that hangs somewhere between Skream and Prince’s “Kiss”.
Mia Dyson
The Moment
Black Door Records
Mia Dyson’s fourth record is not so much a musical exploration of blues and Americana (although it delivers that in spades), as much as it’s about what happens when you go through the triple whammy of losing your partner, your band and ending up broke and alone in the US.
Perhaps because of all this, The Moment is Dyson’s most fleshed out and refined record yet. A heady mix of liquidy blues solos, big melodic hooks, Springsteen choruses and Dyson’s own irrepressible husky drawl.
Single “When the Moment Comes” is a huge blues pop rush that’s destined to be a crossover smash, before “Pistol” cuts deep as Dyson begs “Use this pistol on my heart/ Take me out before it starts”.
Dyson’s playing is elegantly restrained, on slow burner “Tell Me”, every guitar line has a marble cool impact, and on bouncing “Fill Yourself” she shoves the piano front and centre. It’s a session player’s maturity, and every spindle of guitar, piano or harmonica cushions rather than clashes with the surroundings.
From salty wound lickers “The Outskirts of Town” and “To Fight Is To Lose”, to the epic ebb and flow of “Jesse”, Dyson covers a lot of emotional ground. Standout track “Cigarettes” is a throwback to Dyson’s previous records- a gritty blues jam cloaked in Hammond organ smoke and evoking midnight whiskeys and Lucinda Williams. “Two Roads” rolls the record away with nips of harmonica over thick piano.
It may have been a long road to get here, but Mia Dyson’s moment has finally arrived.
Key tunes: “When The Moment Comes”, “Cigarettes”, “Fill Yourself”
Asta, “My Heart Is On Fire”
2012
A thickly thrumming guitar and muted beat give this track by Hobart artist Asta a distinct dark edge under her own full vocals.
The just crowned winner of Triple J’s Unearthed High competition might give love a smoking schoolgirl makeover, but the deepness of her voice hints at a maturity well beyond her years.
Taylor Swift, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
Red
Released via a web chat conducted yesterday, “We Are Never…” is the first taste of Swift’s upcoming fourth record (due out October 22nd). It took 3 hours for the song to be sitting at the top of the iTunes charts.
The track leans heavily to the pop realm (it was co-written by Max Martin, of Katy Perry fame), with a crunchy clap track cutting under some super-shiny guitars, but it’s the lyrical prowess of Swift that pulls it along, as she takes her scythe to an ex, and herself- “And you would hide away and find your peace of mind/ With some indie record that’s much cooler than mine.”
(Apologies for the audio, it was the best I could find…)
