Midnight Mystery Club is the musical project of David Paul Newell, who continues to hit our indietronica buttons with new single, ‘Orange County’.
It’s a steamy, synth-loaded love song with delicate vocals reminiscent of Peter Gabriel.
Sounds like: Goldroom, RÜFÜS, Fenech-Soler, Empire Of The Sun, Gypsy & The Cat, M83, Peter Gabriel
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Midnight Mystery Club
Indietronica is an addictive genre. Other styles rarely get close to the type of highs that indietronica induces.
One band pushing forward such musical euphoria to the masses is Midnight Mystery Club (aka David Paul Newell).
Offering us light hearted synths, with addictive riffs and beaming melodies, it’s no wonder that Midnight Mystery Club has drawn comparisons to greats, such as Empire of The Sun and Peter Gabriel.
Sounds like: RÜFÜS, Fenech-Soler, Empire Of The Sun, Gypsy & The Cat, M83, Peter Gabriel
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Brett – Electric
Brett return with the release of ‘Electric’.
The track is more of an acoustic lo-fi track than electric, but Brett are taking an abstract route with their new material, of which is featured on their upcoming album, ‘Mode’.
Brett took influence for the album from Jean-Luc Godard’s recent film, ‘Goodbye to Language’. “The defining quote for me was: ‘For women, it’s only sex and death. For men, it’s only infinity and zeroes,’” says vocalist Mick Coogan. “It’s a fairly opaque statement, but I think the irony lies in assigning absolutes to human relationships, which can be so beautiful and inspiring. At the same time, the fundamental differences between men and women are very real and that shit is difficult to figure out.”
The vibrant album artwork was designed by Los Angeles based artist, Charley Alexander. The piece was then cut into 50 squares, each of which will be sold with limited edition pre-order copies of the vinyl record. “Our only direction was for the work to be vibrant and bursting with vitality. On the simple level of color, we wanted the jacket to express the brighter sounds and songs on our second album in relation to LP1. We feel Mode has an emotional warmth that the first album deliberately avoids. We also wanted to give our fans a chance to make a closer connection to the music.”
‘Mode’ is released on 18th March via Cascine.
Sounds like: Gypsy & The Cat, Postiljonen, Summer Heart, Day Wave
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Gypsy & The Cat
Gypsy & The Cat are back and they mean business. If their new release ‘Inside Your Mind’ doesn’t tell you that, then you quite frankly don’t deserve to listen to the Australian duo.
We have the usual punchy falsettos and dreamy synths that Gypsy & The Cat have thrown our way before, but their new material has the benefit of an acoustic guitar and cultural influence from their recent travels in Japan.
‘Inside Your Mind’ has also been mixed by mixed by the legend that is Dave Fridmann (Tame Impala, MGMT, Neon Indian, The Flaming Lips).
Sounds like: Empire of The Sun, Cut Copy, Pistol Shrimp, Ghost Beach, Sir Sly, Jagwar Ma, Day Wave, Miike Snow, Bag Raiders, Small Pools, Chromeo
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Them Swoops – Into The Atmosphere
Forming in 2012, and making a return in 2016, it’s Melbourne alt-indie band, Them Swoops.
They’ve made a lovely ‘Seasonal Conserves’ playlist for the readers of Indietronica, full of funky beats and summery vibes.
See the track list below:
1) Total Giovanni – Can’t Control My Love
Saw/heard about these guys for the first time at Meredith Music Festival, they promptly proceeded to blow everyone’s minds with their Stardust meets Talking Heads meets quasi-ironic Italian shtick.
2) Mini Mansions – Death Is A Girl
From one of our fav albums of last year. Pounding rhythm, floating lyrics, hooks flying everywhere. Saw them open for Tame Impala and was sold on the spot.
3) Ben Browning – Make It Easy
Local boy made good, BB plays bass in Cut Copy and in his spare time writes ridiculously catchy tunes such as this one.
4) Baptism Of Uzi – Stray Current
There’s something about this song that I’ll never be able to pinpoint what it is that makes it so awesome. Basically, I wish I wrote it. Simple elements, but when put together make something strange and beautiful.
5) Tom Vek – Sherman (Animals In The Jungle)
Takes a while to kick in but when that bassline hits, it’s relentless. Love the verses in this one. Detached, but delivered with attitude.
6) Nantes – Charlie
We played with Nantes a few years ago and while the majority of their sound is a lot darker than this, this shimmering, colourful pop song really stuck with me. It’s a feelgood track that makes it onto almost any playlist I put together.
7) Donny Benet – Sophisticated Lover
This track is best consumed with its video clip. It straddles the fine line of being pathetic, ridiculous and pure genius.
8) NO ZU – Raw Vis Vision
Excellent party vibes in this track from crazy Melbourne locals. These guys are old friends and it’s awesome to see them continually not give a damn.
9) Young Hysteria – This Is Not A Love Song
Super smooth and minimal, this track is sparse in places, lush in others, but beautiful throughout.
10) Jagwar Ma – The Throw
A good buddy of mine tried to get me along to one of Jagwar Ma’s early shows in Melbourne a few years ago. I didn’t make it and spent the next 2 years kicking myself as Howlin’ is one of my favourite records of the last 5 years. Saw them live at Meredith and lost my mind.
Listen to ‘Into The Atmosphere’ by Them Swoops below.
Sounds like: Cut Copy, Van She, Holy Ghost!, Gypsy & The Cat, San Cisco, Classixx, Friendly Fires, The Kooks, Bag Raiders
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High Highs
High Highs are a Sydney-based band consisiting of Jack Milas and Oli Chang.
Citing influences such as Talk Talk and Fleetwood Mac the duo create a range delicate synth soundscapes overlaid with multi layered vocal harmonies wrapped up an indie pop sensibility.
Jack Milas describes the creative process behind the track as such: “This tune was one of the first ones we wrote when we finished touring and went to the country to start writing. Its a simple song that came out really naturally. It was the song that bridged the gap between the first record and this one. Once we had How Could You Know I think we had the confidence to step further into unfamiliar territory for the rest of the record. We had a lot of fun playing this one in Oli’s living room with just a piano and 12 string guitar, and that method dictated how we wrote a lot of other songs on the album. It was important to us that they sounded great stripped right back.”
The track has been taken from their new album ‘Cascades’ which is out on 5 February 2016.
The High Highs will be touring Australia and North America early Spring 2016 with UK dates to be announced soon.
Sounds like: Gypsy & The Cat, Empire of The Sun, Cut Copy, Ghost Beach, Sir Sly, Jagwar Ma, Miike Snow, Talk Talk, Fleetwood Mac
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Young Empires – The Gates
Young Empires is a feel good, Toronto-based indie band, who we cannot get enough of. We have had ‘The Gates‘ single on repeat and now the LP of the same name is about to be released!
We had a chat with Matt from the band:
Why did you start making music?
None of us were fit to work for the ‘man’ and be part of 9-5 economy. We wanted to be part of the generation of young professionals cutting their own cloth and walking to the beat of their own drum. So we started our own business, the House of Young Empires, which includes music creation, curation, brand consulting, fashion, among other things..
Your song ‘The Gates’ is about fighting through depression and self doubt. Has the creative process of making music helped you overcome similar struggles in your personal lives?
More than creative process as a tool to overcome personal issues, is the reaction that the music creates. When our fans feel a sense of connection to our music, it gives us a deep sense of purpose in life. That, for us, is much more potent and healing.
Describe your sound in three words.
Rhythmic. Uplifting. Modern.
Where do you cite your musical influences from?
We all listen to different music. Very few of us have cross influences. This makes for tension in the creative process and results in something uniquely Young Empires.
Their debut album, ‘The Gates’ is due out on 2 October via HOYE Inc, Exclusively licensed to Votiv Music (excl. Canada)/Pirates Blend Records (Canada). Purchase on iTunes or have a listen to ‘So Cruel’ from the LP.
Sounds like: Little Dragon, Foster & The People, The Hurts, Sir Sly, Pistol Shrimp, Gypsy & The Cat, Brotherun, Temper Trap, Dive In, Satellite Stories, Young Kato, Ghost Beach
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Gypsy & The Cat
Surprise! Australian duo Gypsy & The Cat has dropped their cheeky new EP, ‘Hearts A Gun’. We’ve listened to it a fair few times already, and it’s top notch.
‘Hearts A Gun’, the lead track from the EP, tackles the issue of love head on. Perfect for summer days or winter nights, depending on your international location.
It is released on 25 September.
Sounds like: Empire of The Sun, Cut Copy, Ghost Beach, Sir Sly, Jagwar Ma, Miike Snow, Bag Raiders, Small Pools, Chromeo
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Gypsy & The Cat + Client Liaison – Evolution
Gypsy & The Cat and Client Liaison have teamed up to create ‘Evolution’.
With the summer hooks of Gypsy & The Cat combined with the retro funky flair of Client Liaison, it’s great to see both bands on form with such a great track.
Listen below
Sounds like: Empire of The Sun, Cut Copy, Ghost Beach, Sir Sly, Jagwar Ma, Miike Snow, Bag Raiders, Small Pools, Chromeo
Gypsy & The Cat
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Client Liaison
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Young Empires
Young Empires is Matthew Vlahovich, Jacob Palahnuk and Taylor Hill from Toronto.
Despite new single ‘The Gates’ sounding like a sparkling melodic indie track, it has a deeper meaning for the trio, who describe the track as being “…essentially about fighting through depression and self-doubt… understanding and accepting that things will never be perfect. It suggests that by uniting with those around us (that may or not struggle with same), we can overcome this feeling of isolation that is so commonplace in this world.”
The track is produced by Stephen Kozmeniuk (Kendrick Lamar, The Game, Hurts).
Sounds like: The Hurts, Sir Sly, Pistol Shrimp, Gypsy & The Cat, Brotherun, Temper Trap, Dive In, Satellite Stories, Young Kato, Ghost Beach
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