GOOD MORNING GIFT LISTENERS WITH SURPRISE EIGHTH ALBUM

THE ACCIDENT OUT NOW

Photo by Jarvis Taveniere

Good Morning today, unveil their eighth studio album, The Accident. The surprise release arrives on the heels of upcoming dates with Waxahatchee across Naarm / Melbourne and Meredith Festival. LISTEN HERE.

Flanked by the recent 8 minute epic single ‘Soft Rock Band’, The Accident is a dynamic nine track collection that sees the duo of Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons continue to challenge their own boundaries as a creative partnership. The steadfast release would take shape in the background of preparing and releasing their critically acclaimed album Good Morning Seven earlier this year. From a broken eight track tape machine which necessitated a strictly digital approach, to taking on the challenge of booking studio time without a single pre-prepared song, Good Morning embraced the self-induced discomfort of being put on the spot, resulting in jamming together – “something that we’ve spent the better part of our adult lives avoiding,” they explain. 

Speaking to its genesis, Good Morning continue, “Somehow, we broke through the barrier of being vulnerable about our creativity (again) and got into the swing of writing together in a room for the first time in a long time. During this time we’re starting all the advance rollout work on Good Morning Seven and planning our next year. We’re not really fighters, (we’re way too passive for that), but given that we’re making a new record at the same time as already getting sick of thinking about the old one, an air of burn out and band related bum out seems to find its way into much of the lyrics. For the first time in a long time, there is no new Good Morning record being worked on as this one is coming out, and no plans to tour.”

A distillation of sounds and influence as wide as Pavement, The Beatles, Wilco, with the range of big band rock moments to the intimate, The Accident is as much a product of indulging imagination, as it subconsciously comments on instinct and quiet confidence in the face of hard work. Highlights include ‘A Telephone Rings’, where truncated kooky percussion, warm whispers and triumphant guitars make for “another song about trying,” through to ‘Baby Steps’, a seemingly self-referential hymn of self belief – “It’ll work sometimes, It’s gotta work sometimes.” Wind and horn arrangements shine on the driving ‘Romance’ and ‘Peaches’, a forlorn declaration of grace against twinkling flutes and nylon strings. 

Embracing the moment and quietly gratified by the vulnerability of simply writing together – start to finish – in a room again, The Accident formed in three stages: instrumentals recorded in August 2023 at The Old Carpet Factory on the Greek island of Hydra amongst 40 degree celsius weather and late morning swims; lyrics added and mixing initiated in November 2023 at Stella Mozgawa’s Sunfair Studios in Joshua Tree, post co-headline tour with Frankie Cosmos; with final touches in February 2024 at Naarm / Melbourne’s York Street Recorders, Australia’s oldest running recording studio that Stefan co-operates while they rehearsed to support Waxahatchee across the US.

With a dedicated focus to a small contingent of instruments that feature across The Accident, as with Good Morning’s wider discography, the record is abound with xylophone, slide guitar, congas, and a Melotron setting called ‘Boy’s Choir’. Hydra’s ever-present cicada population, coupled with Joshua Tree local scorpions and tarantulas, meant that “a lot of the recordings have a layer of hiss anyway.” The Accident also sees a horn and wind section return, with contributions from Stefan’s father Glenn Blair on saxophone, Nicole Thibault on trombone and Hank Clifton-Williamson on flute. Retaining their firm DIY spirit, The Accident arrives written and produced by Good Morning (pair), engineered and mixed by Stefan with mastering by Fred Kevorkian, and artwork by Liam.

Hot off Pitchfork Festival London with Drugdealer and June McDoom, Good Morning will appear at Meredith Festival this December alongside Jamie xx, Genesis Owusu, Mk.gee and Waxahatchee, with whom they will reunite at her Tigers Blood Australia Tour sideshows in Naarm / Melbourne. See all tour routing details BELOW.

GOOD MORNING
The Accident
out now via Good Morning Music Company Worldwide
LISTEN HERE

AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Dec 4 - The Corner - Naarm / Melbourne - supporting Waxahatchee
Dec 5 - The Forum - Naarm / Melbourne - supporting Waxahatchee
Dec 6-8 - Meredith Festival - Wadawurrung Land, Meredith

TRACKLIST
Baby Steps
A Telephone Rings
Romance
Peaches
Thrills Of The Family Man
Perfect Fishing
The Grateful Dead
I Can't Make It Up To You
Soft Rock Band

"This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body"

GOOD MORNING ANNOUNCE SURPRISE SECOND ALBUM OF 2024

GOOD MORNING ANNOUNCE SURPRISE SECOND ALBUM OF 2024, THE ACCIDENT LP NOV 29, DROP 8 MINUTE EPIC SINGLE ‘SOFT ROCK BAND’

Photo by Jarvis Taveniere

Good Morning today reveal details of their upcoming eighth record, The Accident, due November 29, the speedy release primed with their winding new single ‘Soft Rock Band’. LISTEN HERE + PRE-SAVE LP HERE.

The duo of Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair, Good Morning entered ‘album eight’ mode under the guise of studio time booked without pre-prepared songs, resulting in jamming together - “something that we’ve spent the better part of our adult lives avoiding,” they explain. Written and recorded wholly together in one shared space and exclusively digital thanks to a broken eight track tape machine.

Formed in the background of preparing and releasing their latest critically acclaimed album Good Morning Seven, The Accident would come to fruition in three stages: instrumentals recorded in August 2023 at The Old Carpet Factory on the Greek island of Hydra amongst 40 degree celsius weather and late morning swims; lyrics added and mixing initiated in November 2023 at Stella Mozgawa’s Sunfair Studios in Joshua Tree, post co-headline tour with Frankie Cosmos; with final touches in February 2024 at Naarm / Melbourne’s York Street Recorders, Australia’s oldest running recording studio that Stefan co-operates while they rehearsed to support Waxahatchee across the US.

Speaking to its genesis, Good Morning share, “Somehow, we broke through the barrier of being vulnerable about our creativity (again) and got into the swing of writing together in a room for the first time in a long time. During this time we’re starting all the advance rollout work on Good Morning Seven and planning our next year. We’re not really fighters, (we’re way too passive for that), but given that we’re making a new record at the same time as already getting sick of thinking about the old one, an air of burn out and band related bum out seems to find its way into much of the lyrics. For the first time in a long time, there is no new Good Morning record being worked on as this one is coming out, and no plans to tour.”

Marking the release with a sprawling eight minute single, ‘Soft Rock Band’ plays like a hopeful final chapter. An alternate narrative-led hurricane, the track springboards memories, secrets and fears of a lackadaisical character’s past. Remarking on the adage of time flying, “I might have seen it all but I know there’s still so much to go,” they lament against warm piano and slide guitar. What eventuates into a big band breakdown keeps with the nostalgic easy-listening style of Clairo. Like Truman stepping off the set of his ‘life’, ‘Soft Rock Band’ windchimes into the distance and lets the end credits roll. 

With a dedicated focus to a small contingent of instruments that feature across The Accident, as with Good Morning’s wider discography, the record is abound with xylophone, slide guitar, congas, and a Melotron setting called ‘Boy’s Choir’. Hydra’s ever-present cicada population, coupled with Joshua Tree local scorpions and tarantulas, meant that “a lot of the recordings have a layer of hiss anyway.” The Accident also sees a horn and wind section return, with contributions from Stefan’s father Glenn Blair on saxophone, Nicole Thibault on trombone and Hank Clifton-Williamson on flute. Retaining their firm DIY spirit, The Accident arrives written and produced by Good Morning (pair), engineered and mixed by Stefan with mastering by Fred Kevorkian, and artwork by Liam.

Hot off Pitchfork Festival London with Drugdealer and June McDoom, Good Morning will appear at Meredith Festival this December alongside Jamie xx, Genesis Owusu, Mk.gee and Waxahatchee, with whom they will reunite at her Tigers Blood Australia Tour sideshow. See all tour routing details BELOW.

GOOD MORNING
The Accident
Out Nov 29 via Good Morning Music Company Worldwide
PRE-SAVE HERE

'Soft Rock Band' is out now, buy/stream it here.

GOOD MORNING TOUR DATES

AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Dec 4 - The Corner - Naarm / Melbourne - supporting Waxahatchee
Dec 5 - The Forum - Naarm / Melbourne - supporting Waxahatchee
Dec 6-8 - Meredith Festival - Wadawurrung Land, Meredith

TRACKLIST
Baby Steps
A Telephone Rings
Romance
Peaches
Thrills Of The Family Man
Perfect Fishing
The Grateful Dead
I Can't Make It Up To You
Soft Rock Band

COLDWAVE RELEASE AA-SIDE THE ANTS / ITALIA '06; SHOWCASING AT SXSW SYDNEY + TOURING THE EAST COAST IN OCTOBER

COLDWAVE RELEASE AA-SIDE THE ANTS / ITALIA '06; SHOWCASING AT SXSW SYDNEY + TOURING THE EAST COAST IN OCTOBER

Photo by Mayah Salter

Tandanya/Adelaide-based post-punk six piece COLDWAVE today share their first release for 2024, the AA-side The Ants / Italia '06, together with a video for ‘The Ants’ directed by Conor Mercury (Carla Geneve, Ella Ion, Dark Daze). Coldwave are showcasing at SXSW Sydney and touring the east coast next month - details below. The Ants / Italia '06 is out now via P.A.K. Records - stream/watch HERE. 

A frantic yet tightly controlled blend of jagged guitars, booming horns and uncompromising vocal delivery, Coldwave captures the abstract in life’s most mundane moments. ‘The Ants’ is tightly coiled and unwinds itself like an emo-tinged prequel to their 2021 single ‘Plagiarise’, with expansively layered bars peppered throughout. “We returned to a really comfortable place writing this song,” says vocalist Harrison Evans. “It’s built around reminiscing on childhood, and is a bit of a soul-searching expedition around the realisation that you’re one of many”.

On Italia '06 they open the song playing with negative space and spoken word, before the aural spike strip is laid down and explodes in the second half. It’s the more narrative-driven song of the two and references the classic ‘Aussie battler’ trope - “someone who feels hard done by in a social or cultural bubble where life is actually pretty good” - through the lens of a penalty wrongly awarded to Italy during the 2006 World Cup, or, a moment that ‘broke Australia’.

The Ants / Italia '06 was produced and recorded by Bonnie Knight (2024 AIR Independent Producer of the Year – Amyl & The Sniffers, Angie McMahon, ENOLA) and mixed by James Trevascus (Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Billy Nomates, RVG).

WATCH: ‘The Ants’ (Official Video)

Following the release of their debut EP Same Window, Different House in 2023, Coldwave were named triple j Unearthed Feature Artist, performed at Laneway Festival amongst a stacked lineup including Turnstile and Fontaines D.C., and made their much-talked-about debut at Bigsound 2023, with Dave Ruby Howe applauding the band for “delivering heavily to a big room which seemed to have caught wind that something was cooking... every member of the band vying for your eyes with intense noodling, rumbling rhythm section and demonic trumpet.”

COLDWAVE - Harrison Evans (he/him; vocals), Kiran Memisoglou (he/him; guitar), Anthony Griffin (he/him; guitar/vocals), Sean McGowan (they/them; trumpet/synth/vocals), Lara Patzel (she/they; bass) and Jordan Maywald (he/him; drums) - formed in 2020 from the ashes of two beloved Tandanya/Adelaide post-punk outfits and have continued to evolve rapidly, welcoming new collaborators, exploring experimental instrumentation, and building a national audience, while remaining steadfastly loyal to their home community. They have released two EPs No Conflict (2023), Same Window, Different House (2023) and have performed with Citizen, Pond, RVG and more.

GOOD MORNING UNWIND ON LATEST DOUBLE TRACK 'EXCALIBUR / TOY'

GOOD MORNING UNWIND ON LATEST DOUBLE TRACK 'EXCALIBUR / TOY'

Photo by Pooneh Ghana

Good Morning today share their latest two-track release ‘Excalibur’ and ‘Toy’, from their seventh studio album Good Morning Seven. The 17-track epic arrives on March 22 via Good Morning Music Company (ANZ) and Polyvinyl (ROW) ahead of their North American tour dates supporting Waxahatchee. With the release comes a transitory new music video for ‘Excalibur’, a fan favourite that's spawned continued online fever since its first appearance in a live set eighteen months ago. LISTEN HERE + WATCH HERE + PRE-ORDER HERE.

Seasoned songwriters, Good Morning possess a consistently high output in their creative tenure. Few times though, have they bore witness to those random, yet fully realised, strokes of inspiration as on ‘Excalibur’ and ‘Toy’. Here Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair find themselves at the hands of that remarkable happenstance with both tracks appearing so seemingly out of nowhere. An experience that recalls a similar dreamstate genesis of ‘Yesterday’ whose writer, in such disbelief of its sudden allusion, was convinced of its existence many years beforehand and by another artist entirely.

Unlike Good Morning's recent succession of double-tracks and their discography as a whole, casual demo tinkering captured the subconscious ‘Excalibur’ and ‘Toy’ in real time. Just as they first appeared in the spur of the moment, both singles share a relaxed, soft-rock quality of swash-buckling calm - the breeziest and most lounge-like lean the two-piece have unearthed musically. The sheer coincidence of their recording made all the peculiar when noting their conception in two isolated instances. Much like their collaborative relationship, taking place both entirely separate and parallel at once. 

WATCH: 'Excalibur' (Official Video)

A live set staple and heavily anticipated by fans, ‘Excalibur’ - like the sword - manifested itself in what Liam initially thought might come out as placeholder mumble while writing on tour. “It was one of those weird times where I had all the words in my head ready to go without ever explicitly thinking about them,” he shares. “Las Vegas is a strange and messed up place at the best of times, but when you feel like the world is gonna end it becomes even weirder. I remember walking around in the morning and the streets were pretty quiet and it was the day that the Killers put out that song ‘Caution’ (Las Vegas banger). I listened to that on a loop and was looking at all these mock versions of world landmarks and just quietly freaking out about my future.”

Lyrically ‘Toy’ considers a pub encounter “in which I probably shoulda just left” Stefan explains, swooning instrumentally through a crescendo of strings, woodwind and synths. Formed by the trigger of Chet Baker’s cover of ‘You Better Go Now’, while hanging out in a public park, the opening string suite sparked ‘Toy’s composition. “I paused it immediately because I could hear what became ‘Toy’ in my head,” he continues. “I hurried home and demoed the song pretty quickly, nervous that I would forget what I had imagined in the park. Don’t think something like that has ever happened to me before, but it's cool it can."

Previewed with today’s double-track and the recent ‘Just In Time’ / ‘Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)’, ‘One Night‘ / ‘Real I’m Told‘ and ‘Dog Years‘ / ‘Queen Of Comedy‘, Good Morning Seven marks a moment in the two-piece’s history as a product that demonstrates the investment (and pay-off) in taking time. Typically the duo write and record independently from each other, in a matter of days, releasing albums, EPs and double tracks all in a quick sequence of each other. That was, before Good Morning Seven. The upcoming album will see the two display a confident creative partnership, with every intentional step laid out for indulgence.

Good Morning announce new double album with singles 'Just In Time / Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)'

Good Morning today announce their most expansive and experimental release yet, the 17-track double album Good Morning Seven due March 22 via Good Morning Music Company Worldwide (AUNZ) and Polyvinyl (ROW). With the news they share the latest double release 'Just In Time' and 'Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)' alongside details to experience their only Australian show for the foreseeable future in late February. LISTEN HERE + PRE-ORDER LP HERE.

Good Morning Seven marks a moment in the band's history, a product of the investment (and pay-off) in taking time. Historically the duo of Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair write and record independently from each other, in a matter of days, releasing albums, EPs and double tracks all in quick succession of each other - until now. "We built a studio at the end of 2020 and spent the next year and a half writing and recording this record," they explain. "The last three Good Morning albums were made in a matter of days, so we wanted to stretch out and take a long time on this one."

Narrowing down 70 songs penned in preparation for their seventh album, the cohesive 17 that you'll see on the 51-minute double record - their longest yet - come together as Good Morning's most ambitious project to date. Made possible thanks to their own decade long friendship, Liam and Stefan stretched days into longer periods of gestation, steadily developed their own studio spaces with gear accumulated or kindly borrowed, and a string of collaborators invited to contribute for the first time ever. The resulting Good Morning Seven sees Good Morning display a confident creative partnership, with every intentional step laid out for indulgence. 

Of the record, the band share "We talked about wanting to make a more melodic, brighter record - one with more vocal harmonies and samples and synths. It's a personal milestone. We wanted to change the palette, to "go long" and we were pleasantly surprised with what came out. It was like writing our first album, for the first time again."

While it's written, recorded, engineered, and produced solely by Good Morning, they further expand their world with an integrated community of contributors in mix engineer Tyler Karmen (Noname, DIIV, Devendra Banhart) with parts overdubbed at Stella Mozgawa’s (drummer of Warpaint) Joshua Tree studio, Fred Kevorkian (The White Stripes, Iggy Pop, The National, Willie Nelson) who mastered in Brooklyn, string arrangements by Chloe Sanger, Greer Clemens and Dannika Horvat on harmonies (the only guest vocalists on record to date), and Stefan's father Glenn Blair even played woodwinds. 

WATCH: 'Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)' (Official Video)

In keeping with the album's theme today's double-track release 'Just In Time' / 'Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)' follows 'One Night' / 'Real I'm Told' and 'Dog Years' / 'Queen Of Comedy'. Expanding on the idea that often in life, things seem to echo a bit with uncertainty, but you've got to trudge along, 'Just In Time' although cheerful in tone is "really not a very happy song," Liam shares. "It seems to me that it’s about trying to muster up the hope that one day you’ll make it out of the shitty situation that you’ve found yourself in, and desperately searching for some self belief."

The second single – inspired by Stefan's favourites Nina Simone and MGMT – 'Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)' is the first Good Morning track to really dive into reverb, leaving it extra dreamy and washed with a little bit of weariness. "Lyrically it began about my feelings surrounding being in this band at that point," Stefan explains, "and sorta moved towards a more general song about finding a state of content within your life. Sorta like I grew up wanting to make music for a living, and now that just makes me anxious and suspicious? Just like people I know who go down the path of getting married and having kids etc yet still struggle with their dependencies on drugs and alcohol - nothing’s ever truly ideal, but you gotta appreciate those in between moments when you’re not overwhelmed by it all."

In celebration of the upcoming album, Good Morning have announced a one off live in-studio performance this February 24 in Naarm / Melbourne - the band's first Australian show in over two years and the only Australian show planned for the near future as they relocate overseas. Entry is only available via LP pre-order. Pre-order the album in any format via the Sound Merch store for access. In the lead up to Good Morning Seven's release, the band will be touring across the US in support of Waxahatchee, find all of the dates here.

​Good Morning Seven LP
Mar 22 via Good Morning Music Company Worldwide / Polyvinyl
PRE-SAVE + PRE-ORDER HERE

​'Just In Time / Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)' is out now, buy/stream it here.

TRACKLIST
1. Arcade
2. Ahhhh (This Isn't Ideal)
3. Monster Of The Week
4. As The Dogs Were Playing
5. The Worm Turns
6. Dog Years
7. Queen Of Comedy
8. The Lake
9. Diane Said
10. One Night
11. Excalibur
12. Real I'm Told
13. Just In Time
14. Toy
15. Jelly Legs
16. Dogs On The Beach
17. The Fear!

Good Morning return with new two-track release 'Dog Years' & 'Queen of Comedy'

Good Morning, the Australian indie duo of Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair today share new double singles, ‘Dog Years’ and ‘Queen Of Comedy’ via Good Morning Music Company Worldwide (AUNZ) and Polyvinyl (ROW). LISTEN + WATCH HERE.

Warming up for their North American tour with Frankie Cosmos later this month, Good Morning’s first batch of double singles since their 2022 drop in 'Misery' and 'Out To Pasture' sees the two tease a refined ear for production and sound born from a stream of rigorous writing and experimentation. ‘Dog Years’ penned by Liam and ‘Queen Of Comedy’ by Stefan arrive crafted with string, horn and orchestral arrangements written and produced by Good Morning in their entirety, recorded at their former Preston studio base. 

A steady traipse forward from their firmly DIY-etched brand of indie, the singles channel the rolling chamber pop of Weyes Blood with the twisty-twangy psych-folk of Drugdealer. Maintaining the distinctly observational, arresting lyricism of their critically acclaimed work in their recent Barnyard LP as they build on the foundations of their cult records Shawcross and Prize//Reward, 'Dog Years' and 'Queen Of Comedy' sees the two hint at existentialism and the passing of time. 

"Can’t believe I’m writing this sentence, but Liz Phair graciously allowed us to use some lyrics from 'F**k and Run' for the end of the song," Liam shares of 'Dog Years'. "It kinda sounds like Bruce Springsteen if he made evil clown synth pop?" he continues. Whereas for Stefan, 'Queen Of Comedy' he explains, "while the first few lines may seem like it, it is not a song about having a God complex." Featuring a string quartet of Chloe Sanger (violin, arrangement), Lucy Rash (violin), Jenny Thomas (viola) and Kiya Van Der Linden-Kian (cello), he continues, "When working on the string arrangement, I asked Chloe to make it sound like a less French version of Serge Gainsbourg’s 'Melody'."

In Good Morning's near-decade tenure, the project of Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair, reached a previously unprecedented level of recognition in 2021’s Barnyard LP. Pushing past their humble ‘doing it on our own terms’ sleeves by signing with Polyvinyl (Julia Jacklin, Alvvays, Momma) and Sub Pop Publishing, the album was celebrated internationally with widespread tastemaker acclaim from Rolling Stone, NME, Stereogum, The Line Of Best Fit, Consequence, Alt Press, Paste, DIY Mag, Music Feeds, The Music, Northern Transmissions, KCRW, 6Music and many more.

For some keeping a collaborative creative relationship may become hard, but for Good Morning’s eight-year-plus partnership the two continue to hit a stride; breaking all their own rules and then some. Later this month, Good Morning will take to shows across North America, supporting Frankie Cosmos in duo mode and shortly after, as a full band with their own headline shows across October. Find all tour routing details below. 

'Dog Years / Queen Of Comedy' is out now, buy/stream it here.

Chitra shares new single 'Go Easy'

Chitra, the Naarm / Melbourne blossoming indie vocalist returns today with her latest single ‘Go Easy’, ahead of her BIGSOUND showcase next month. LISTEN HERE.

Patient and restrained over wrung-out guitar strums, 'Go Easy' although more languid than the recent ‘In My Opinion’ speaks to the frustration in moments of impasse. “Go Easy is a song I wrote about sitting on a feeling when you’re hesitant to act on it. Anticipating the worst but being drawn to it constantly,” she reveals. Calling to mind the commanding alternative-indie sound that forged Jack River and MAY-A's paths, Chitra speaks with dismay to the opportunities that never materialise in voicing your thoughts aloud.

On 'Go Easy' she plays with the archetypes of indie-leaning stereotypes, often riddled with introspective anxieties that coddle rather than empower, especially when particularly far from reach. Instead of floundering in their turmoil internally, she considers moving on from their debilitation with a shared ability to play with perception and expectations as boygenius. In charge of her own path here, Chitra leaves dismay in the back of her mind with a call to keep calm and carry on, singing "I don’t wanna find what I know that I can’t hold... A call to change is never answered quick." Not to be misread as needing to be left alone to pluck up the courage, but rather, to move on from spiralling in the "what if".

Chitra’s music is the vessel for navigating growth and the world with a firm lens of the present. Wide-eyed at the prospect of discovery and opportunity, crossed with a jubilant and carefree upbringing in the Bellarine Peninsula. Her magnetism lies in catching listeners off guard with her astute observations of relationships, the world, and Chitra’s place amongst it all. ‘Go Easy’ follows her earlier sample of the fruit born from a period of steady reflection, the confident ‘In My Opinion’, triumphed by Rolling Stone, triple j Unearthed, Northern Transmissions (Song Of The Day), Pilerats, RAGE, FBi Radio and more.

Today with her feet planted firmly on the ground, Chitra is not mincing words and she’s not letting anyone off the hook. Through a careful shedding of the folk-pop from her earlier work in favour of a sound that represents a “rockier, bolder, a bit more solid” impression of her artistry unlike before. The sound of a revered young songwriter taking herself apart and putting herself back together even stronger will come closer into focus later this year - experience its formal preview at BIGSOUND this September.

Elizabeth Shares New Single 'Love Is The Easiest Salvation'

Beloved patron of sad girls Elizabeth celebrates her birthday today with the release of ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’, a cinematic pop song that reflects on the devotion within love as a concept of worship, and the first cut from her highly anticipated, to-be-announced second album coming in 2024. ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’ sees Elizabeth reunite with The Wonderful World of Nature producer John Castle with mastering by Ruairi O’Flaherty - whose incredible ear for pop music has seen him work with Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift and Sam Smith - and marks the start of a bold and confident new chapter for Elizabeth. ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’ is out everywhere now through Our Golden Friend, stream HERE.

Elizabeth will be performing ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’ and previewing her new album for the very first time at BIGSOUND 2023. She’s armed with a brand new live show, and her new band that features Ryan Strathie and Graham Ritchie from Holy Holy. 

This isn’t the first time Elizabeth has released music on her birthday; the first single from her debut album, the iconic ‘Beautiful Baby’ also had an August 9 release. Arguably the most Leo move to release music on your birthday - Leos love to be the centre of attention after all - Elizabeth shares, “I like putting songs out on my birthday because I always think about dying on my birthday and songs live forever.” 

The parallels between the sense of belonging found in relationships and faith found in religion forms the backbone of ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’. She was richly inspired by Sappho’s poetry and Anne Carson’s Eros the Bittersweet, and wrote the song on the electric piano she first learned to play when she was 11 that came preloaded with 00s sounds. Elizabeth shares, “Love is the Easiest Salvation holds that love is worship, we build our lives around finding connection. It’s a guiding light and sometimes something that leads us into darkness. I have never belonged to any kind of religion, but I know how to fall in love.” Love really is her church.

‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’ was recorded in kanamaluka/Launceston alongside co-producer John Castle (Cub Sport, Angie McMahon, Hatchie) with whom Elizabeth worked on across her debut album The Wonderful World of Nature. Castle added live drums, guitar, and additional synth to create such a heavenly, pop-driven track, with mastering by Ruairi O’Flaherty, one of the most in-demand pop music engineers who has worked alongside Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Denzel Curry and Lana Del Rey. The release of ‘Love Is The Easiest Salvation’ marks the start of a striking new chapter for Elizabeth, as she confidently steps forward towards the release of her new album due out in 2024.

Elizabeth captures the reckless thrill of romance like no other. On her debut album The Wonderful World of Nature, she stepped away from a messy divorce like a world-weary heroine pulling herself from the wreckage of a car crash: broken glass shining like glitter, bloodstains smearing like blush. Contrasting lush dream pop haze with visceral, disarmingly truthful lyricism, it was a pop record out of time - glamorous and tragic, ultra modern and undeniably timeless, a queer answer to nihilistic, powerfully feminine pop heroes like Lana Del Rey and Lorde. In 2022 she released her Suite of Singles - three, interconnected songs and accompanying visuals by Nick Mckk that expanded and complicated her richly alluring world - and earlier this year released the Live at Thornbury Theatre EP, recorded at her curated event A Night With Elizabeth as part of Always LIVE. Elizabeth’s Suite of Singles - 'Happier Now', ‘Sweet Connection’ and ‘If You Died’ - saw support from triple j, Unearthed, FBi Radio, MTV Australia, rage, NME Australia, Notion, The Music, Music Feeds and many, many others. 
 

Listen to 'Love Is The Easiest Salvation' HERE

RVG NEW ALBUM BRAIN WORMS OUT TODAY + HEADLINING THE FORUM JUNE 14

RVG’s highly anticipated third studio album Brain Worms is out today with a spotlight on the album’s most pop-leaning track ‘It’s Not Easy’.
 

~ BUY/STREAM BRAIN WORMS NOW ~
 

After a momentous first five years — finding critical acclaim for debut A Quality of Mercy, landing on countless end-of-year Best Of lists, and playing alongside some of the world’s biggest acts in Pixies, Kurt Vile, Pete Doherty, Sleaford Mods, Camp Cope, Shame, and more — RVG released second album Feral as the world was locking down. Feral was called “masterfully executed” by The Big Issue, “the record of a lifetime” by Rolling Stone Australia and given four-and-a-half stars by the Sydney Morning Herald.

But between the four bandmates — lead singer and guitarist Vager, guitarist Reuben Bloxham, drummer Marc Nolte and bassist Isabele Wallace — this is the most confident they’ve ever felt in RVG. They’ve moved past their influences, pushed themselves, and tried new things. And they have made a record they can, by all accounts, call their best.

“Hype is scary. After two years of Covid it felt like the hype had gone down so we were able to just do stuff,” says Vager. “This time around we were like, this is what we’re doing, we’re taking control, we’re taking risks, and we’re going to make an album that sounds big so that when we hear it on the radio we want to hear it again.”

“If we could only make one more album, it would be this one,” says Vager.

All throughout Brain Worms, it’s apparent that this is a band in very fine form. Album opener ‘Common Ground’ sets the tone for what’s to come; a shiny, thrilling, punch of an album, with all the beloved RVG hallmarks. Vager’s voice is unfiltered and commanding as ever when delivering her clever, not-quite-ironic lyrics. Here, though, those lyrics feel so much less resigned to yearning, and so much more defiant and joyous.

New focus track ‘It’s Not Easy’ opens with the refrain: ‘For a minute now / let’s not talk about you / and how you wanna crumble.’ Before launching into a sparkling, laidback pop rock jam about a hauntingly familiar story; watching a friend self-destruct.

‘Tambourine’ is the only Covid song Vager wrote when “trying not to write Covid songs”, and it’s a painfully honest portrait of grieving mid-isolation. ‘Brain Worms’ tells the all-too-familiar story of a person falling down the internet rabbit hole and finding comfort in conspiracies.

‘Nothing Really Changes’ is a keys-heavy new wave-ish thing, while closer ‘Tropic of Cancer’ sparkles with Vager’s self-assured new manifesto: I know what I’m like, and I know how I get. If you think I’m strange, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

A hurtling rock song, ‘Midnight Sun’ deals in matters of disbelief, and what it feels like to live in a culture that often prefers to argue the semantics than save the world from burning. Aptly furious and defiant, frontwoman Romy Vager cuts through the chaos singing ‘my city is in ashes / but I’m still burning bright / Hangin’ here like a lantern / in case you change your mind’.

Bloxham, Nolte, and Wallace are flawlessly adept in bringing Vager’s songwriting to life. Recorded in London at Snap Studios with James Trevascus (Billy Nomates, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, The Goon Sax), all ten tracks surge with lush sounds and clear intentions — and the magic of an acoustic guitar once owned by Kate Bush, given to her by Tears for Fears (who, legend has it, wrote ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ on it). RVG recently returned from SXSW (Austin, USA) and The Great Escape (Brighton, UK) where they also toured with Billy Nomates. Back home now, the band are throwing a very special instore event at SoundMerch in Collingwood, before they go on to play Rising Festival, Dark Mofo and Splendour in the Grass.

2023 is the year of RVG and the release of Brain Worms is just the beginning.
 

Listen to Brain Worms now here.

ELIZABETH SHARES LIVE AT THORNBURY THEATRE EP + SHARES LIVE VIDEOS FROM THE NIGHT

Today beloved patron saint of sad girls Elizabeth shares her magnetising Live at Thornbury Theatre EP. A sparkling collection of songs from her enchanting performance at her 2022 curated mini festival A Night with Elizabeth that ran as part of ALWAYS LIVE. The EP is out now via AntiFragile Music and Our Golden Friend. 

~ WATCH / LISTEN TO LIVE AT THORNBURY THEATRE HERE ~

Recorded and engineered by Bonnie Knight and mixed by Liam 'Snowy' Halliwell the EP captures the live magic of Elizabeth's new band. The accompanying videos by Andrew Watson of Semi Conductor Media paint a mesmerising picture of a pop heroine claiming her space on her elaborate home stage. Presented as part of ALWAYS LIVE the mini festival saw Elizabeth surrounded by makers and creatives amidst the glimmering grandeur of the theatre stage.

The EP explores the depths of, as Elizabeth puts it "the what if that always hangs over a relationship that's broken down irreparably. As in, I can't keep you but what if you're gone forever."  The final videos from the show, including 'Happier Now' and 'Sweet Connection' are live on Youtube HERE.

This Live EP sees Elizabeth return to the stage, bringing a swish of neon taffeta and a glimmering sultry honesty, seen through her 2022 Suite of Songs. The three, interconnected singles and accompanying visuals expand and complicate her richly alluring world. The first single from the Suite 'Happier Now' was added to FBi Radio, MTV Australia and rage, received airplay on triple j, Unearthed, Double J, RRR and 4ZZZ, with NME Australia, Notion, The Music, Music Feeds and more all singing its praises. The lyrical motifs of her debut album The Wonderful World of Nature (2019) are recast in neon on the Suite, their old prismatic glow replaced by a dangerous, alluring coolness. 

Elizabeth captures the reckless thrill of romance like no other. On The Wonderful World of Nature, she stepped away from a messy divorce like a world-weary heroine pulling herself from the wreckage of a car crash: broken glass shining like glitter, bloodstains smearing like blush. Contrasting lush dreampop haze with visceral, disarmingly truthful lyricism, it was a pop record out of time - glamorous and tragic, ultra modern and undeniably timeless, a queer answer to nihilistic, powerfully feminine pop heroes like Lana Del Rey and Lorde. Capturing hearts and minds of media and fans across the globe, the record saw widespread acclaim from The Saturday Paper, FADER, Wonderland, frankie, Pilerats, The Music and Tone Deaf, amongst others, and was included in Album of the Year lists across The Guardian, The Saturday Paper and the Herald Sun.