5 Tracks You Gotta Hear

We’ve been a little tardy with our five tracks this week and we apologise. We lost track of time, between picking up the pieces in the wake of the colossal Melbourne Earthquake and getting pumped for another earth shaking event, our first birthday party tonight. Where you will be able to see the absolutely incredible Cold Hiker perform their brand new single ‘Phosphenes’ and we can assume, other songs. But for the sake of this little article we’re focusing all our attention on this phenomenal new offering from one of the most exciting young bands in Melbourne. Distinctly different from their contemporaries, ridiculously talented and not to mention handsome as the day is long, ‘Phosphenes’ is another example that the sky is the limit for this four-piece.

We love a good story to accompany a good tune. This one is courtesy of Melbourne songstress Penny Hewson. The singer-songwriter was a member of 90’s indie outfits like Sea Stories, Gigantaur and Sunglass. She also moonlighted with the highly influential rolling collective Not Drowning Waving. It was a diverse musical apprenticeship that helped land her the position of manager of a little band called The Avalanches. The role saw her become more involved in the business side of music and meant she had to uproot from her homeland to the hustle and bustle of L.A. Having now sold her business after 10 years in California, Penny has come with a truly beautiful record. ‘This One’s For You’ is the lead single and is a track that could easily be dismissed as whimsical pop if you’re not careful. Listen closely though; there is a wonderful sense of vulnerability layered underneath Penny’s angelic vocals.

Today is the shortest day of the year if you reside in the Southern Hemisphere. So to inject some sunshine into your Winter Solstice, here is Sweden’s The Royal Concept. These guys pump out some very infectious indie pop that will hopefully take your mind off the fact that there’s a good chance the sun will have set before you get home from work. The tune stinks of Phoenix which some of you may label as regurgitation, others may just simply enjoy that this song is ace. We’re with the latter. Their EP is available for free too.

The recording moniker for Chan Marshall has lain dormant since a 2008 covers album Jukebox but now Cat Power is set to release her first new material in six years and we are extremely excited for it. ‘Ruin’ is the first single from Sun, which will be released in early September. With Marshall having split from long time boyfriend Giovanni Ribisi as she was recording the album, the single is a lot more upbeat than you would expect. We’ll wait with baited breath to see if the rest of the album follows suit.

Melbourne crew Worlds End Press dropped their second EP Second Day Uptown yesterday and it is absolutely killer. These guys are making some amazingly progressive electronic music and will be well worth checking out when they swag around the country. They’ve also dropped a little remix EP to coincide with the real deal and it features an absolute monster take on ‘Second Day Uptown’ care of New Yorker Slow Hands. It’s about 7 minutes long, but you’ll quickly realise that that is a great thing.

Tagged Cat Power, Cold Hiker, Not Drowning Waving, Penny Hewson, Slow Hands, The Avalanches, The Royal Concept, World's End Press