Kaiyah Mercedes Releases Single ‘MANIC!!!’
"Kaiyah Mercedes Releases Single ‘MANIC!!!’"
In a powerful blend of indie pop-rock and raw storytelling, 18-year-old queer music artist Kaiyah Mercedes releases her latest single, ‘MANIC!!!’. In her true signature format, ‘MANIC!!!’ serves as a powerful indie pop rock anthem full of gritty guitars and unapologetic lyricism.
Kaiyah began her musical journey at 13, finding solace in music during the isolation of the COVID lockdowns. Teaching herself piano and guitar, she used music as a tool for self-discovery, allowing her to express complex emotions and experiences through songwriting and documenting her journey of coming out and processing a diagnosis of Autism and ADHD.
‘MANIC!!!’ is not just a standalone single; it is a pivotal bridging song that embodies the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Co-written with Seetali Mack and mixed and mastered by Hayden Lauersen, ‘MANIC!!!’ is inspired by a real-life manic episode following a breakup, presenting a dramatised yet authentic portrayal of emotional upheaval. Kaiyah’s openness about her mental health journey has been a cornerstone of her artistic expression, allowing her to connect deeply with her audience. Her willingness to share her struggles and triumphs provides a powerful message of resilience and vulnerability, making her music not only a creative outlet but also a beacon of hope for those facing similar challenges.
The single offers fans a sneak peek into the direction of Kaiyah’s future soundscape, some of what is set to be her most personal and raw works yet, with themes of heartbreak, love, and emotional intensity, reflecting her growth and evolving artistry. This new sound draws inspiration from artists like Louis Tomlinson, Olivia Rodrigo, The Buoys, and Maisie Peters, creating a unique blend that is sure to resonate with her audience.
Kaiyah’s live performances are a testament to her dynamic artistry. Catch her at the Moonee Valley Festival on February 22nd, a special acoustic performance as part of Roarfest as Memo Music Hall St Kilda on March 9th and the ‘MANIC!!!’ Single Release Show at the Bergy Bandroom in Brunswick on April 6th. The lineup features an all-queer, neurodivergent roster, including My Giddy Aunt and Local Sweetheart, promising an unforgettable experience.
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CB Ghost Releases Single ‘High On Elm And Vine’
"CB Ghost Releases Single ‘High On Elm And Vine’"
CB Ghost’s latest single, ‘High on Elm & Vine’, is a deeply personal and evocative track inspired by an unforgettable encounter in Los Angeles. A psychedelic like rock song with an almost unhinged drum beat, written in a sudden burst of inspiration, explores themes of displacement, mental health struggles, and personal reflection.
While spending time in Los Angeles with his girlfriend—before the devastating fires—CB Ghost was struck by the stark reality of homelessness and the lack of mental health care in the city.
The emotions that surfaced at that time poured out in the form of ‘High on Elm & Vine’, written in a near-mystical rush of creativity. The song came together in just 20 minutes, its lyrics and melody flowing almost effortlessly. He chose to preserve that spontaneous energy in the final recording, keeping the song as close to its original essence as possible.
The studio recording process brought the track to life with the full band. Garrick Blow’s progressive rock-inspired drumming adds an intense rhythmic drive, while Murray Dilger’s hypnotic bass groove anchors the song. Geoff Nicol contributes a psychedelic, trippy lead guitar that elevates the track’s mystical quality. The result is a song that is both unsettling and mesmerizing, pushing CB Ghost out of his comfort zone.
CB Ghost, a songwriter with an honest simple folk-rock style that captures the essence of a complicated existence with singalong tunes and poetic lyrics and sometimes a banger beat. CB Ghost has emerged from a close-nit coastal surfing village in Australia. His background provides him with a deep connection to toe tapping Celtic, country and straight-ahead heartfelt rock music mixed with salt water from the ocean.
A former pro surfer, CB Ghost is driven, bold and dedicated to his evolving sound and a deep love of blue-collar folk stories and sensibility – and most importantly playing live to crowds who love to drink, dance, sing and have fun.
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Steve Kilbey & The Winged Heels Release Album ‘The Road To Tibooburra’
"Steve Kilbey & The Winged Heels Release Album ‘The Road To Tibooburra’"
Steve Kilbey: During the early days of Covid 19, I met a guy called Julian who asked me to be in a short silent film he was making called ‘Space Junk’. ‘Space Junk’ was about a stranger (moi) who comes to a remote-ish Australian town during the pandemic and has a number of adventures including aliens and angry villagers and other various kinds of weirdness.
The film got kinda finished and had a couple of screenings in a room but then seemed to be abandoned and never properly completed. Julian then repurposed it for a musical about a washed-up and ageing rockstar called Lord Jim (moi again) who takes a strange crew off to Tibooburra searching for his comeback.
Julian asked me to write all of the songs for the musical, which I did and enjoyed doing too. I recorded them all with a wonderful band of players who also appear on my albums 11 Women and The Hall of Counterfeits, whom I dubbed the Winged Heels.
Well then after sitting in the can for ages I have decided to release this weird collection of tunes. They are in no particular order so you’ll just have to figure it all out for yourself. Or just make up your own plot and story and sit back and enjoy. I have also thrown into the mix some contemporaneous songs I was working on with the Heels at the time but I now look upon them as perhaps part of the musical and let you try to make some sense of all this.
Steve Kilbey, band singer, songwriter, bassist, painter, writer, poet, actor, sage, dispenser of
arcane wisdom is one of Australia’s most loved artists.
The popular song “Under the Milky Way” won the “Best Single of the Year” award at the
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards event in 1989. For his work with
The Church, Kilbey then accepted, together with his bandmates, an induction into the ARIA
Hall of Fame.
Steve got his first bass guitar at age 16, joined a band at 18 and went on to form a number of different groups before forming The Church in 1980. He has gone on to release many solo albums and collaborations with recording artists from around the globe.
“Kilbey’s solo recordings are challenging and evocative. . . joyous and dreamy to saturnine
and sardonic” – Ian McFarlane.
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Refinery Drive Release Single ‘Headlights’
"Refinery Drive Release Single ‘Headlights’"
Sydney pop-punk band Refinery Drive are a passionate mix of attitude, power and energy. Their unique sound blends pop, punk, metalcore and jazz. They’ve been referred to as the “Aussie Paramore” and definitely draw inspiration from Tonight Alive and New Found Glory.
Their single ‘Promises’ released in early 2024 set a fresh tone for the band and picked up Triple J airplay courtesy of Josh Merriel. Their follow-up release ‘Fool Me Twice’ premiered on Triple J Unearthed TOPS, was featured as Unearthed Track of the Day and received Triple J airplay courtesy of Ebony Jade. Their latest single “Headlights” released in early 2025 found it’s way to Apple Music’s “The New Rock” editorial playlist.
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Paul Scott Releases New Single ‘The Angry Boyz’
"Paul Scott Releases New Single ‘The Angry Boyz’"
Musically the track is somewhere between pop, punk and disco, which I have never referred to as ‘posco’. Lyrically it went like this: I was witness to a statement purporting to be fact that was so egregious in it’s falsehood and so inept in it’s delivery, it made me laugh. A comic manifesto for the angry boys. That’s how it starts, not just the song, but also the trouble. ‘Garbage truckers’ is not a reference to the good people of our cities’ sanitation departments, it’s the gossip we drown in.
Paul Scott began his career in music, writing and playing bass in angular NZ group Pop Mechanix. Despite court cases, a revolving cast of singers and multiple record labels, their single ‘Jumping Out A Window’ became a staple of New Zealand pop culture.
Relocating to Australia, Paul formed Montana with Ken Stewart (Mr Blonde), Michelle Margherita and Steve Melville. Their first release featured ‘Koolest Band’ which received national airplay and high rotation on JJJ. A brief tour of the USA and a performance at SXSW, led to ‘Koolest Band’ being included in the Hollywood movie ‘You Drive Me Crazy’. The subsequent album ‘Bubblegum Love’ was released in Australia, Spain, France and the USA.
Scott has since plied bass for various Australian acts, playing everywhere from community halls and malls in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to the Sydney Opera House. Teaming up with Steve Melville (ex Mr Blonde and Montana) Paul and Steve have established a studio production relationship, playing on each other’s tracks (Stewart and Melville, The Likes of You) and coproducing The Insufferable Paul Scott’s well received 2021 album ‘Tea and Medals’ (which Melville also mixed).
Their most recent project is a closer collaboration with Melville adding drums, percussion and keyboards to Scott’s voice, guitar and bass, a line up very close in sound and feel to their youthful unit ‘Montana’. “I was looking for the kind of pop thrill I used to get from great Aussie indie bands such as The Falling Joys, Smudge, The Hummingbirds, pop thrills… you know?” says Scott. An album has been completed and tracks will be released over the next few months on Foghorn, home to most of their releases to date.
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Burger Legs Joe ft. Loz C Release Single ‘Missing’
"Burger Legs Joe ft. Loz C Release Single ‘Missing’"
‘Missing’ was released by UK R&B duo Everything but the Girl in 1994 and is best known for the Todd Terry EDM remix. It evokes imagery of traveling urban to streets to stand alone in a moment of lost love. Tragic, but also so romantic and upbeat in the way it grooves you along. Brilliant!
The Burger Legs Joe restmod leans into the EDM remix, with added duff and a new perspective on the arrangement. Featured vocalist Loz C brings it all together in her unique style, radiating romance as she powers along the beat.
I hope it puts that beat in ya feet!
About
The avatar of an unidentified Music Producer, Burger Legs Joe is on a mission to restomod (restore and modernise) outstanding retro songs for your grooving pleasure.
Treasuring the essence of what makes each track so fabulous, they’re re-energized to a modern perspective; weaving rhythms and melodies in BLJ’s distinctive ear grabbing style, that lingers in your head and puts beats in your feet. Burger Legs Joe is with Foghorn Records, and when he’s not arranging restmods, he focuses on original and collaborative music projects.
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Kalen Hogan Releases New Single ‘Mindless’
"Kalen Hogan Releases New Single ‘Mindless’"
Kalen is moved by the gritty side of life and respects those who are struggling with inherited or self-induced negative states of mind. ‘Mindless’ comes from that state of mind, lost, isolated, describing hallucinogenic episodes and schizophrenic-like symptoms.
Kalen says ‘‘Mindless’ is a song about mental illness. It describes hallucinogenic episodes and schizophrenic like feelings. We are taken on a journey with a person who is well into literally losing their mind.’
About Kalen
Kalen Hogan debuted onto the local Central Coast music scene in late 2022 and proudly launched his debut album ‘Isolation’ in May 2023. Keen to kick off the new year with new singles, he released ‘On The Phone’ and ‘Right There’ earlier this year.
As an alternate indie rock singer-songwriter, Kalen proudly admits to being inspired by the 1990’s grunge movement, with a real reverence for bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Kalen sings about the complexities of everyday life, with an open heart and keen observing eye. His pure vocal tone has been described as sounding reminiscent of Thom Yorke from Radiohead and the late Jeff Buckley.
You can catch Kalen performing live at various venues and events across the Coast.
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Paul Scott Releases Single ‘Saturday Morning TV’
"Paul Scott Releases Single ‘Saturday Morning TV’"
Saturday Morning TV, do you remember, would you go back? They are always selling tickets to the past, would you retreat to the days of innocence and simplicity? The past is a foreign country and we, with our poisoned knowledge, will not be welcomed. We are forever fated to fall forward into our mutual futures; what was felt then will never be felt again. Change consumes us and as some things degrade, we can also evolve, we can burnish our souls. The synths sounds are relics, the guitars refer to a digital past, all matt gloss and sharp edges.
Paul Scott began his career in music, writing and playing bass in angular NZ group Pop Mechanix. Despite court cases, a revolving cast of singers and multiple record labels, their single ‘Jumping Out A Window’ became a staple of New Zealand pop culture.
Relocating to Australia, Paul formed Montana with Ken Stewart (Mr Blonde), Michelle Margherita and Steve Melville. Their first release featured ‘Koolest Band’ which received national airplay and high rotation on JJJ. A brief tour of the USA and a performance at SXSW, led to ‘Koolest Band’ being included in the Hollywood movie ‘You Drive Me Crazy’. The subsequent album ‘Bubblegum Love’ was released in Australia, Spain, France and the USA.
Scott has since plied bass for various Australian acts, playing everywhere from community halls and malls in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to the Sydney Opera House. Teaming up with Steve Melville (ex Mr Blonde and Montana) Paul and Steve have established a studio production relationship, playing on each other’s tracks (Stewart and Melville, The Likes of You) and coproducing The Insufferable Paul Scott’s well received 2021 album ‘Tea and Medals’ (which Melville also mixed).
Their most recent project is a closer collaboration with Melville adding drums, percussion and keyboards to Scott’s voice, guitar and bass, a line up very close in sound and feel to their youthful unit ‘Montana’. “I was looking for the kind of pop thrill I used to get from great Aussie indie bands such as The Falling Joys, Smudge, The Hummingbirds, pop thrills… you know?” says Scott. An album has been completed and tracks will be released over the next few months on Foghorn, home to most of their releases to date.
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Fleur Wiber Releases ‘Orderves’ (Remaster 2024)
"Fleur Wiber Releases ‘Orderves’ (Remaster 2024)"
Step into a musical odyssey where cosmic vibes meet the heartfelt twang of alt-country. Fleur Wiber, the luminary songstress, invites you on a celestial journey through her soul-stirring melodies and poetic lyrics. Her voice, a captivating blend of stardust and raw emotion, transports listeners to a cosmic frontier where love, longing and the vast mysteries of the universe converge.
About Fleur Wiber
Born in Hamilton, Victoria, and now based in the enchanting coastal town of Port Fairy, Fleur’s artistic roots trace back to her studies in sculpture, performance, and installation at Sydney College of the Arts, where she explored themes of self-determinism and freedom. Influenced by musical luminaries such as Cat Power, Sharon van Etten, Wilco, and Fiona Apple, Fleur’s music blends cosmic country, alt-country rock, and indie pop with a unique touch. Drawing from her personal adventures, Fleur infuses her songs with authenticity and depth, inviting listeners on a heartfelt and introspective journey.
Having graced stages like the Tamworth Country Music Festival and Nundle Rocks earlier this year, Fleur embarked on an exhilarating Southeast Asian tour in 2024, captivating audiences in Bangkok and beyond. Her performances are characterized by warmth, honesty, and a genuine connection with her audience.
Join Fleur Wiber as she invites you into a universe where heartfelt emotion meets cosmic exploration through music. Immerse yourself in her soul-stirring melodies and discover the magic of Fleur’s musical odyssey.
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