LONTALIUS SHARES NEW SINGLE ‘SWIM’ AHEAD OF NEW ALBUM ‘ALL I HAVE’ – SET FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 4 + NATIONAL TOUR SUPPORTING JAPANESE WALLPAPER IN OCTOBER & NOVEMBER
Enigmatic NZ electronic artist Lontalius, also known as Eddie Johnston, has today announced his glowing new single Swim, a comforting, honest track about accepting the ups and downs of life, out now. Swim is also accompanied by a stunning clip, made in collaboration with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (Pacific Heights, Whim, Weird Together). The prolific young artist has also announced his new album, All I Have, set for release on October 4. Lontalius will be joining Japanese Wallpaper on the road for his first ever Australian shows in October and November this year, kicking off at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on October 25, then moving through Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and wrapping up in Brisbane at The Brightside on November 9.
Swim is an endearing track, seemingly buoyed by pessimism and optimism at the same time. Reminiscent of indie pop giants The 1975 and Troye Sivan, Swim is driven by a pounding beat and intricate guitar lines (not to mention a killer solo towards the end) while Lontalius’ idiosyncratic vocal floats above it all. Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Lontalius says, “Swim is about the acceptance that with all the heartbreak, anxiety and stress of being young, the universe is still leading you on the right path. You can have everything seemingly perfectly lined up in front of you, but sometimes it just won’t work out… it’s a song that i’m really proud of. It hit a lot of marks I had been trying to hit for the past few years. It’s energetic and it has a pace to it that I haven’t done before, all the while still living in the ‘lontalius’ world, I think.”
The clip for Swim zooms in on the self-reflection in the song in a figurative and literal sense. Lontalius sings alone, in the gorgeous Wellington wilderness, looking deep into a mirror suspended in mid-air. The clip is beautiful, dreamy; an appropriate visual representation of Swim, as Lontalius explains, “The video follows me singing the song into a mirror, walking along various locations in my home Wellington, NZ. With the song mostly being a dialogue with my own brain – a moment of self reflection, it made sense for me to sing it back to myself. This clip was a culmination of a few ideas we’d had in our minds for a while. The picturesque NZ landscape never fails to contrast the emotion in my music…I made it with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. They’ve done all of my videos as well as a number of other NZ artists. We tend to have similar ideas around what will work, I’m not sure if I could work with anyone else.”
If Lontalius’ debut LP I’ll Forget 17 was a snapshot of his life as a teenager, All I Have documents the period in life when he was exiting adolescence and entering adulthood. Outgrowing one era but not yet ready, perhaps, for another. With a characteristic melancholic, yet beautiful temperment, paired with wistful synthesisers and soft, gentle guitar, All I Have is a superb collection of songs from this impressive artist. Working in LA alongside Grammy award winning producer Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, John Legend, Jay Z), Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse), Roy Blair (Kevin Abstract) and Mr Hudson (Kanye West), Lontalius dove deep into a varied array of infuences for this second album, drawing inspiration from the artists he grew up listening to, such as U2 (circa Joshua Tree), REM, and Coldplay, alongside modern pop auters Kacey Musgraves and Lorde. Reflecting on the album, Lontalius enthuses, “The main themes on All I Have are love, youth and anxiety. I started writing it at 18 so it basically follows my own experiences with love, being away from home, new pressures and pleasures, as well as that general feeling of ‘coming of age’. Just trying to make sense of it all… It was my intention to add a little more energy and life into my music than I had done before. I had built up energy and I wanted to let it out! It was also important to me that it didn’t end up being a bloated, 20 song thing. I wanted to be able to grab it all with one hand.”
Lontalius will be playing his first Australian shows ever in October and November this year supporting Japanese Wallpaper on his Glow national tour. Thrilled to be hitting the road for what is set to be a beautiful, immersive experience for audiences, Lontalius says, “I’m really happy I’m finally making it to Australia! I’m doing solo sets, playing new and older music from even my soundcloud days. Trying to create a sound that people can get lost in for 30 minutes or so.”
Swim is out now. All I Have is set for release on October 4.
LONTALIUS NATIONAL TOUR (SUPPORTING JAPANESE WALLPAPER)
FRI OCT 25 | CORNER HOTEL, MELBOURNE VIC| 18+
SAT OCT 26 | SEWING ROOM, PERTH WA | 18+
FRI NOV 1 | LION ARTS FACTORY, ADELAIDE SA | 18+
FRI NOV 8 | OXFORD ART FACTORY, SYDNEY NSW| 18+
SAT NOV 9 | THE BRIGHTSIDE, BRISBANE QLD | 18+
PARKER ANNOUNCES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO ‘CAN’T KEEP WAITING’ + ARTIST RESIDENCY & EXHIBITION ‘YOU, ME AND THAT OTHER THING’ AT SAWTOOTH ARI
Gifted visual artist, songwriter and musician PARKER has today announced her iridescent new single Can’t Keep Waiting, a once-in-a-lifetime song, one that soundtracks a grand leap into the unknown and away from everything comfortable and safe, set for release today, October 4. PARKER has also announced a cinematic video clip to accompany the track, made in collaboration with director and technology artist Jaymis Loveday (Emma Louise, Ball Park Music) and sculptor Briony Law. PARKER has just completed an artist residency at Sawtooth ARI gallery alongside drawer and sculptor Jo Lane, in order to prepare their upcoming exhibition You, Me and that Other Thing, an exploration into human connection. The official opening of You, Me and that Other Thing will take place today, Friday October 4 from 6PM at Sawtooth ARI in Tasmania (running for one month), and will include a screening of the Can’t Keep Waiting video clip.
Can’t Keep Waiting is transcendental, meditative; at times it feels almost ambient, with heavy, industrial percussion and repetitive synth patterns. But one thing that pulls the track into a truly close, emotive space is PARKER’s soft, intimate yet commanding voice. Evocative of Massive Attack and the lyrical and vocal prowess of Lana Del Rey, Can’t Keep Waiting is epic and overflows with the power of primal human emotion. “Can’t Keep Waiting is about gathering the courage to be honest with myself. It’s about letting go of all that is safe and familiar in life in order to evolve and grow,” explains Parker. “I believe it’s in the moments when we feel completely lost that we find the opportunity to discover something new about ourselves. Nothing is permanent, everything can change. Each moment we have the ability to create ourselves anew.”
Already receiving multiple accolades, including Best Concept at Clipped Music Video Festival in Sydney, Best Music Video at the Los Angeles Film Awards, New York Film Awards and Top Shorts, not to mention selection for screening at the Austria International Film Festival, the clip for Can’t Keep Waiting is a triumph of a true marriage between sound, visual art, and cinema. Made by PARKER, in collaboration with Jaymis Loveday and Briony Law, the clip sees clay mounds, turning gracefully to human forms, dissolving in a deep-seascape with very little light from above. PARKER displays a clear and intricate understanding of her art, as she describes the clip, “The clip concept for this song was born out of a video installation work I made called Dissolving Self. Dissolving Self was a projection installation of a video art work. The video was a of a clay cast of my face dissolving in water set on a loop that made it look like it was falling apart and then rebuilding. I showed the work to my friend Jaymis Loveday and he suggested we make an extension of the work by creating full body casts and miniature models using a larger tank and cinematography techniques in the filming. Brisbane based sculptor Briony Law worked closely with me on the sculpting of the plaster landscapes and made all of the body casts and moulds for us to create the figures.”
You, Me and that Other Thing is the title of the upcoming exhibition that will see PARKER and Jo Lane explore the many facets of human connection. The exhibition will consist of three parts: historic works where inspiration has already manifested, a transition piece, and the work from an experimental performance of unity. PARKER and Jo Lane have spent the last two weeks in residency at Sawtooth ARI, working side by side in a dedicated studio space where the exhibition will take place. Giving her audience a taste of what to expect from the exhibition, PARKER enthuses, “We will create a body of work together around the theme of human connection combining Jo’s skills in drawing and sculpting and mine in sound and video. The Exhibition will combine a collection of our existing works and the new work we make during the residency.”
PARKER is Tash Parker.
Can’t Keep Waiting is set for release today, October 4 and the You, Me and that Other Things exhibition will take place today at Sawtooth ARI at 6pm (October 4)
YOU, ME AND THAT OTHER THING EXHIBITION OPENING
FRI 4 OCT | SAWTOOTH ARI, LAUNCESTON TAS | 18+ | FREE ENTRY
MONTAIGNE’S NEW ALBUM COMPLEX OUT NOW & NATIONAL TOUR IN NOVEMBER
Praise for COMPLEX
“Proof that pop doesn’t need to be dumbed down” – Herald Sun ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
“Complex is a delightful exploration of a young woman’s examined life, warts and all” – The Australian
“Blending theatrics with emotion perfectly, Montaigne’s melodic pop tones create a gut-wrenching contrast between wanting to dance and wanting to cry. It’s an ode to Montaigne’s maturity to be able to write without metaphor around things so oftern trivialised and turn it into a gorgeous journey of self-discovery, determination and growth” – The Music ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ 1/2
Art pop auteur Montaigne has today released her spectacular second album Complex, which features triple j faves For Your Love and Ready, alongside her latest single, the title track of the record. To celebrate the album, Montaigne will be taking part in instore stripped back performances and signings at Oh Jean Records in Melbourne on Saturday August 31 at 12pm and HUM Music in Sydney on Monday September 2 at 5.30pm. She will then be hitting the road for her Complex album tour (presented by triple j) in November, kicking off in Adelaide on November 7, then moving through Perth, Fremantle, Maroochydore, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Bendigo, Torquay, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, and finishing up in Wollongong on November 30. Montaigne has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket goes to support Bush Heritage Australia a national non-profit organisation conserving biodiversity in Australia. www.bushheritage.org.au
The latest single Complex is an intriguing snapshot of the aftermath of – and hindsight that accompanies – a relationship with someone who has a Messiah complex. This is Montaigne at her absolute best – self-aware, wise, and delightfully verbose, playing with the meaning of complex and threading intricate and playful vocal melodies atop a bed of kitschy piano and determined drums. It’s the perfect title track for this eclectic album. On the new album, themes range from loneliness, isolation, distorted love narratives, confused sense of self, the desire to escape, self-image issues and self-realisation. All these concepts interact and percolate amongst themselves on Complex, and Montaigne does a spectacular job of expressing herself with eloquence, passion and powerful vocal authority.
Speaking on how she hopes the album is received by her audience, Montaigne explains, “Having to figure this album and my life out in simultaneity was the best possible collision of events I could have endured. There’s no way to quantify it, but I think going through the whole thing rescued me from a bunch of possible futures which would have been unpleasant and dark. It’s just this sense I have. I hope that listening to this album bequeaths the sense of anticipation and tension and tortuous disappointment that precedes your life and mind and body being totally reshaped and redefined, hopefully for the better.”
Montaigne worked with a wide range of producers on Complex, including long-time collaborator Tony Buchen (Courtney Barnett, The Preatures), Wynne Bennett (Twin Shadow, Janelle Monae), Kyle Shearer (Dua Lipa, Broods, K. Flay), Mozella (Madonna, Miley Cyrus, One Direction), Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foals), Mario Späte (Tkay Maidza, Urthboy, Allday) and Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, St. Vincent, Dua Lipa).
Montaigne will be playing shows around the country in November to celebrate the release of Complex. Her unique, theatrical and emotional performance style never fails to impress. Tickets available from www.montaigne.oztix.com.au
Complex is available now.
SAT AUG 31 @ 12PM | OH JEAN RECORDS | INSTORE SIGNING AND PERFORMANCE | 276 NICHOLSON STREET, FITZROY
MON SEP 2 @ 5.30PM | HUM MUSIC | INSTORE SIGNING AND PERFORMANCE | 271 KING STREET, NEWTOWN
Complex album artwork
MONTAIGNE ‘COMPLEX’ NATIONAL ALBUM TOUR
Presented by triple j
Tickets from www.montaigne.oztix.com.au
THU 07 NOV – THE GOV, ADELAIDE
FRI 08 NOV – BADLANDS, PERTH
SAT 09 NOV – MOJO’S, FREMANTLE
THU 14 NOV – SOLBAR, MAROOCHYDORE
FRI 15 NOV – THE ZOO, BRISBANE
SAT 16 NOV – THE NORTHERN, BYRON BAY
THU 21 NOV – TAP HOUSE, BENDIGO
FRI 22 NOV – TORQUAY HOTEL, TORQUAY
SAT 23 NOV – THE CROXTON, MELBOURNE
THU 28 NOV – UC HUB, CANBERRA
FRI 29 NOV – THE METRO, SYDNEY
SAT 30 NOV – UOW UNIBAR, WOLLONGONG