Perth duo Slumberjack get bigger and better with each release, both in their success and their songs. Masters of the epic drop, the Slumberjack guys have been kicking around for a while now, but their recent string of singles including the huge Enigma featuring GRRL PAL show a new, refined direction that we are so excited to watch unfold. Not wasting any time at all capitalising on the explosion that was Enigma onto the international scene (3.5 million streams anyone?), they’re back at it again and this time they’re teaming up with Australian rock royalty.
Lending his honeyed voice that brings you to your knees, Daniel Johns is the latest collaborator with the duo for their latest tune, Open Fire. A banger of epic proportions, Open Fire is a huge track that still harnesses a certain level of emotion that is often not there in electronic music like this. With it’s jolting, shifting hook featuring massive synth jabs and big bass, Slumberjack are totally in their element with this track, and Johns (who dipped his toes into electronic music last year) sounds more than at home singing on top of big hand claps, thumping hooks and racing bridges.
Set to unleash havoc at Splendour In The Grass later this year, Slumberjack have also been announced on the Lollapalooza lineup in the US as well. Add to this the fact that Open Fire has been released via Mad Decent (Diplo‘s label) and it would be pretty fair to say these boys are bound for a huge year this year. Check out Open Fire below, as well as our interview with Slumberjack here.
https://soundcloud.com/slumberjack-music/open-fire
Image: Supplied
The enigmatic and beguiling artist Zhu is back after several months of silence – and he’s just as confusing as ever. The electronic music producer updated his Facebook profile picture two days ago, to reveal a picture for a new Genesis Series project, redirecting them to a jumble of words on the mysterious site GenerationWHY.com. The website simply asks for your email address and offers social media sharing buttons.
What seemed like random pattern of words turned out to actually be the names of several big artists. As far as we can tell, Zhu will be collaborating with these for what might me an album-sized project. Skrillex, Alunageorge, A-Trak, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Gallant, They, Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Keznamdi and Daniel Johns can be found in the letter matrix.
Although other information concerning the website seems to be scant, an album that would come out of these collaborations could be huge. Judging from the success of his biggest hit to date, the Grammy nominated Faded, the formerly anonymous artist could be onto something on a whole new scale.
The producer recently released a new track in a mix for Pete Tong on BBC Radio One, a 40-minute mix of featuring edits of his previous releases like Faded and Superfriends, as well as some Snoop Dog to finish it off. It includes a bunch of remixes and covers, including of The Weeknd’s Often and Outkast tracks Ms Jackson and ATLiens. Check that out here:
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/205688465″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Zhu visited Australia for Listen Out 2014 – you can check the details of the 2015 event here, happening later this month.
“Now I dance to my own beat” echoes like a revelation, from single Preach, off Daniel Johns‘ debut solo album Talk. And, he certainly does. On a dance floor of musical sensibilities, he is the one bold enough to dance alone. Coming out of an eight-year musical hiatus, there has been plenty of time for introspection, experimentation and as Johns puts it, getting “really weird”. The artist confesses that he spent a lot of time inside his house making music that tested the limits, with no intention of releasing anything for a long time. With this in mind, the latest output from the ex-Silverchair front man is surprisingly accessible.
When the first track from the album, Aerial Love, dropped early this year, fans marveled, haters rebuked, and the rest of us held our breath. The ethereal pop song infiltrated the airwaves, and I found myself falling for this 90’s idol all over again, but this time in a different way. A voice that once encapsulated all the angst of youth now had a tempered weight. The song itself, with its subdued melodies and sensual tones, was reminiscent of neo-soul in the realms of James Blake or Frank Ocean, but seemed to promise something bigger.
Once the album was released on May 22, Talk proved to be an album of dichotomies. With fifteen tracks clocking in at just under an hour, it feels long and unrefined. I get the sense that Johns is lost in a sea of tracks, grasping to keep them all afloat, reluctant to let his progeny hit the cutting room floor. I don’t want to use the word “filler” but songs Sleepwalker (a definite yawnfest) and Warm Hands (a cold and guileless ballad) barely make a blip on the radar of highly produced sound.
That being said, having to push the skip button now and again to arrive at achingly amazing tracks like the aforementioned Preach, or the uplifting Cool on Fire is surely forgiveable. The latter was co-written and produced by Joel Little (Lorde/Jarryd James,) and a video clip was released to coincide with the album.
The clip has a certain Sia-esque essence, but instead of being enthralled by tiny dancer Maddie Ziegler, viewers are bewitched by Johns himself. The symbol of sand carries from the Aerial Love video, and Johns’ cements his artistic sensibilities by unfolding each part of this release with an overarching story.
To close out the album there is the haunting track New York with sparse instrumentation and strained vocals, followed by the borderline irritating falsetto and dark glitch reverberations of Good Luck. Maybe Johns sums it up perfectly in his own words:
“I’ve always felt like most people hate everything I do but thankfully there’s always been an enthusiastic minority who seem to ‘get’ it. That’s fine with me. Anything that appeals to everyone tends to suck anyway… That was part of why I picked the album title too by the way. I don’t really care what most people think. Let them talk.”
And it certainly has people talking. Whether you’re wishing for a grunge revival, or getting down to the sultry synth, everyone seems to have something to say. While I may not get every moment, I am glad that Daniel Johns is back dancing to his own beat, unafraid to reinvent himself and look forward to what might come next.
Former Silverchair frontman, now electro-pop-soul crooner Daniel Johns just released a new EP, and is now gearing up to drop a full album later this month.
Talk will come out on May 22. Expect urban beats, angelic falsetto and all kinds of synth-led goodness. From future beats to disco grooves, we can look forward to a diverse, emotional and musically wonderful release. Johns has enlisted a keen array of collaborators to work on the album, including Lorde producer Joel Little, Melbourne’s Damn Moroda, and hip-hop producers Styalz and M-Phazes.
Here’s the new single, Cool on Fire:
With a bright atmosphere and far more of a disco influence than the deep soul heard through his recent EP Aerial Love, I’m keen to hear if we’ll hear a mixture of both, or if it’ll be more of a club-ready record, as this track indicates.
Speaking about his many changes in musical style over the years, Johns says, “I’ve always felt like most people hate everything I do but thankfully there’s always been an enthusiastic minority who seem to ‘get’ it. That’s fine with me. Anything that appeals to everyone tends to suck anyway.”
What’s funny is that when Silverchair released Frogstomp, most people went out of the way to tell me how much it sucked. Then when we made Diorama a few years later everyone started telling me how I should go back to making Frogstomp. I guess now I’ll be told to go back and make Diorama again!”
That was part of why I picked the album title too by the way. I don’t really care what most people think. Let them talk.
Here’s my opinion: Frogstomp, along with Neon Ballroom and Freak Show were among the greatest Aussie rock albums of all time. I love Frogstomp so much that I wrote a whole feature about it. I didn’t care too much for Diorama or the work Johns later did with Paul Mac, but I’ve really enjoyed his recent foray into electronic – especially the mammoth Preach.
I’ll be the first to say I didn’t take kindly to the idea of my favourite Aussie rock star hitting the synths. I couldn’t really get my head around the idea. But in the same way that people trashed Dylan for going electric, or the same way that Radiohead have divided fans all over the place because their sound changes constantly, or the same way that we eventually accepted Ice Cube as an actor and Kanye West as a fashion designer, we need to accept Daniel Johns in his current incarnation. It all comes down to the music after all, and if the music is good, the genre is irrelevant.
I originally wrote this on Indie Shuffle
I’ll start by saying that it’s quite difficult to write this review.
As you may know after reading my ‘Flashback Friday‘ last week, I am a staunch Silverchair fan. As such, I have actively avoided Daniel Johns’ recent solo work (and yes, I realise that makes me sound unnecessarily stubborn). Silverchair’s 1995 debut album Frogstomp was a phenomenally angsty garage-grunge record. It was, quite literally, the album that made me fall in love with music. Those homegrown heroes, affectionately nicknamed ‘Nirvana in Pyjamas’ changed my life. I wouldn’t be writing this right now if not for that album.
When I heard Johns’ first new solo single “Aerial Love,” I thought it was okay. It was decent enough — listenable soul-tronica, not unlike Chet Faker, and clearly influenced by James Blake. I thought nothing of it, save for spending the next three days listening to Frogstomp and Freak Show on repeat.
Today, I was driving home when this track came onto the radio. “What is this amazing song?” I thought, before asking Siri to find out for me. It was Preach by Daniel Johns.
Cue existential crisis. Cue forcibly readjusting my views about this man’s music.
This song is unbelievably good. Powerful, emotional piano sets the scene, anchored by a sparse-yet-demanding beat, topped by Johns’ impossibly high falsetto. And the chorus? Sweet lord. All kinds of stunning right there.
My life has changed in three-and-a-half minutes.
Daniel Johns will be performing his new music at Vivid Live in Sydney, alongside the likes of Morrisey, Squarepusher, Sufjan Stevens, Flume, TV on the Radio and more.
Hello! Here’s a neat little round-up of some of this week’s cool music news.
1. Groovin The Moo announces its most epic lineup yet
Proving itself to me SO much more than the small, regional festival it once was, Groovin The Moo has announced an EPIC lineup. International acts include A$AP Ferg, RL Grime, Peaches, Peace and Charli XCX, while the Australian bill is the absolute best of the best, including The Preatures, Flight Facilities, Saskwatch, Hermitude, Hilltop Hoods, DMA’s and The Delta Riggs. Holy. Moly.
2. Courtney Barnett announces debut album brilliantly titled Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
It took me a long, long time to get into Melbourne stoner-songstress Courtney Barnett, but I can happily say I am now ON the bandwagon. Just this morning, she released the first single off her forthcoming debut album, which will be released via Remote Control on march 20. You can catch her on tour this week with Laneway Festival.
3. Jack White is co-headlining a concert with Robert Plant. I’m fucking done.
You may recall the mindblowing news that my two current favourite acts, Jack White and Run The Jewels were playing together in Madison Square Garden. Jack has now one-upped himself by announcing a co-headline concert in Chile with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant. Back in September, Plant announced that he was interested in recording with White, and this is hopefully the first step toward a fruitful musical relationship!
4. Daniel Johns released a new single, it’d be good if it weren’t by Daniel Johns
I have a big problem with Daniel Johns and Ihave for a while now. Mostly because of how much I loved Silverchair. As the first band I EVER really got into, they influenced me more than any other act ever. And then Daniel Johns got progressively shittier, topped off by his godawful fucking slow, grand piano rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit at Beat The Drum. Anyway he’s released a new song, produced by Joel Little who co-wrote Lorde‘s blockbuster debut Heroine. It’s okay. It would be good if it weren’t by Daniel Johns, but it is, so, I physically can’t get myself to like it.
5. Alt-J announce that Asgeir will be opening for them on their national tour in May
This is a pretty lovely pairing. Asgeir and alt-J, both Hottest 100 winners and now-regulars to the Aussie touring circuit, have confirmed that the Icelandic songwriter will be playing his ethereal tunes to get the crowd in the mood for the Grammy nominees’ headliner set. Head here for more details including ticket sales!
6. Kanye West, Rihanna and Paul McCartney teamed up for one of the best songs all year
For anyone else I’d call this a strange collaboration, but there’s no such thing as strange when it comes to Kanye West. In one of the loveliest R&B-folk songs I’ve heard in a very long time, and probably my favourite Rihanna melody ever, the two R&B A-listers have teamed up with the great Sir Paul McCartney for FourFiveSeconds. They’ve now announced they’ll be performing this live at the Grammys, undoubtedly an absolute show highlight.
7. Shlohmo announces new album and releases a phenomenal new single
At only 25 years old, the fact that Shlohmo is about to release his second full-length album is a pretty amazing feat, considering the amount of producers who prefer releasing sparse singles, remixes and EPs to longer bodies of work. His new single Buried has absolutely blown me away with its powerfully dark, brooding, post-apocalyptic atmosphere, and I can only hope the album will follow on from this. Dark Red will be dropping on April 2 through True Panther and Remote Control. Lets hope a new tour is in the works too!