TIM WHEATLEY DROPS NEW SINGLE LYING LOW
Alt folk rock troubadour, Tim Wheatley is back with a unique dose of melancholy and Australiana, today dropping his deeply personal single, Lying Low. The song is complemented by a fittingly dark and manic video clip that showcases the private suffering and switching of personalities that inspired the song.
Produced and engineered by Michael Badger (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, You Am I, Amyl & The Sniffers) at Jaya Jaya Music in Melbourne, and mixed by ARIA award winning Steven Schram (Paul Kelly, San Cisco), Lying Low tells a tale of darkness with that raw, raspy voice Wheatley is best known for, and his intensely introspective songwriting shines. “It was the first song I wrote after moving from Los Angeles to London. The adjustment from sunny California to the cobblestone streets of East London was near impossible for me. I wrote this song feeling more isolated than ever, in a new city, away from family and friends, and without the ability to perform live,” explains Wheatley. “I stopped talking about how hard I was finding it, because I was drowning in other people’s well-intended but cookie cutter advice. I was going stir crazy in my own company all day and night. It was a true test for my mental health, I was suffering and switching up a few different sides of my personality trying to find the one that could best get me through each situation. It was exhausting ‘getting out there’ and making new friends, for some reason during this period I felt I needed to keep to myself to get to the other side.”
Directed and filmed by Ben Cook (Bombay Bicycle Club, Bring Me The Horizon) at the Sony Music Studios in Sydney in the midst of the bushfires raging across the country, the video’s intent was to demonstrate the solitude and strain the move had on Wheatley. “We wanted it to be frantic and dark, but ultimately strong enough to stand on its own,” says Wheatley. “Ben and I deliberately went in to the filming of the video wanting to capture something completely unrehearsed and candid with nothing but a light and his new Super8 camera, and possibly a bottle of scotch.”
Despite not being written during or about the current global isolation situation, Wheatley insights, “In more ‘normal’ release circumstances, this song – that is now a year old – would be a memory, or about a circumstance that has since passed. But this time, ‘Lying Low’ is somehow becoming more relevant by the day. Either that or I’m stuck on a carousel.”
Lying Low is released today, June 12 through Sony Music Entertainment Australia.
BRIGITTE BARDINI DROPS DEBUT SINGLE AND VIDEO APHRODITE
Exciting newcomer Brigitte Bardini schools us on ethereal wave with her atmospheric debut single, Aphrodite, released earlier this month. The track is accompanied by a dreamy video by Ayush Negi that was masterfully filmed through water to pull off a fittingly 90s alt indie vibe.
This introspective track is dream pop at its finest. Aphrodite will swiftly hijack your attention – its intricacies will draw you in and allow you to discover more with each listen, whilst further propelling the mystery of the artist. Dark, moody and oozing effortless cool, this song is for fans of PJ Harvey, Portishead and Bjork.
Written and produced by Bardini who plays every instrument on the release, Aphrodite was recorded at Toyland studios and engineered and co-produced by Adam Calaitzis (who also tracked some synth bass for the song). “This song is themed around temptation and its repercussions,” explains Bardini. “It is a lesson of knowing your place in someone’s life isn’t as much of a priority as you might wish, but accepting this truth rather than expelling it.”
Directed by Bardini and Ayush Negi, an aspiring filmmaker from India, the video clip was inspired by the lyrics of the song that are centred around references of ancient Greek mythology, ‘sirens’ and ‘Aphrodite’. Filmed during isolation and drawing on DIY tricks and lessons from films, Negi was able to form an innovative approach to creating the video’s psychedelic, otherworldly, underwater feel. Bardini insights, “I wanted to create a film clip that immerses the viewer into this world of a goddess being beckoned, almost taking you underwater to Aphrodite’s birthplace.”
The abstract, alt pop artist from Melbourne who is just twenty years old and has put her psychology degree on hold to pursue a career in music, says she is a little daunted to be releasing her debut single out into the world for public opinion, but is “mostly excited to see how people receive the song with fresh ears.” And she wasn’t going to let these strange Covid-19 times put her off. “Music is always around and I look to it in trying times as well as the good times so I didn’t even second guess following through with the single release and dropping the album,” Brigitte explains, “It’s something that I feel not only other people may need, but selfishly I need a purpose now more than ever.”
Aphrodite is out now
TRAVALLEY DROP RAUCOUS NEW SINGLE AND BONKERS VIDEO DEAR BABE
Aussie brothers, Travalley have today dropped their seriously fun, raucous new single, Dear Babe. The track is accompanied by a fittingly bonkers video that sees the duo, Levi and Sam Mellington, munch through as many chillies as possible throughout the duration of the clip, and they’ll be celebrating the release with a livestream single launch on Saturday May 23 at 7pm on Instagram.
Upbeat and hooky as all getout, this driving indie rock track will be lapped up by fans of Lime Cordiale, The Jungle Giants, Hockey Dad and Skegss, and will have listeners toe-tapping, singing along with the insanely catchy backing vocals and coming back for more. Recorded in a Melbourne home studio, engineered by Fabian Hunter and mixed and mastered by Austin Asvanonda (The War on Drugs), Dear Babe is about lead singer Levi’s lack of ability to be able to flirt or express how he feels. “I always manage to say the wrong thing or give too much away too early which tends to end up in the “what if I said this” situation happening over and over again and then repeating the process with the same results,” Levi explains. “About a year ago, I finally stuck to my guns and held back from blurting out everything about myself to a girl, I was so impressed with myself that I decided to write a song about all my past experiences, and now here we are! We just hope people really enjoy the song and get a laugh out of the film clip.”
Filmed and edited by Gareth Harrison (DJ for Yacht Club DJs who also tours regularly with DZ Deathrays and Dune Rats), the concept for the Dear Babe video was inspired by the DZ Deathrays The mess Up film clip where the guys drank as much alcohol over the duration of the song. An extrapolation of this was then released by Dune Rats in Red Light Green Light where they smoked as much as they could. Pretty chuffed with their ingeniousness with this video concept that is sure to set tongues wagging, and rightfully so, Levi explains, “We decided to continue the trend that these two amazing bands created, and stupidly ate as many chillies as we could within the time of the film clip. Little did we know that we ate far more than expected and experienced all sorts of pains for days after the video was filmed!”
Having spent a lifetime together, and the greatest part of it playing music together, the visceral bond present in their playing and their vocal harmonies is obvious, and their onstage banter is infectious. And though the brothers have been combatting a heap of change during the Covid19 madness, they’re also able to see the positives. “We’ve had a lot more time to write new music and expand our sound, and we’ve had to come up with more creative ways to keep our fans engaged, but it’s also given us the opportunity to sit back and relax for the first time in a long time,” says Levi. “But like many other bands out there, we had to cancel our entire tour and a bunch of bookings too. The biggest thing we’ve missed is playing live to our amazing fans that travel to come see us play. Once this has passed and we are able to start playing music in front of people again, we can only imagine how amazing and hyped everyone will be to get out and have a great time.”
Dear Babe is released today.