Pandora, Australia’s go-to source for music lovers, held its inaugural Warehouse party in Sydney recently and of course we tagged along to capture all the action. With Seth Sentry, Ecca Vandal, Nicole Millar, Ladyhawke, and The Griswolds all hitting up the stage, it turned out to be one heck of a party.
Ecca Vandal
The Griswolds
Nicole Millar
Ladyhawke
Seth Sentry
All photos: Danielle Hansen / Howl & Echoes
Australia is enjoying an incredible golden age of hip-hop right now. Sounds, subjects and crowds are diversifying and growing, and some of the very best were on offer last Friday night at the Enmore Theatre, during Seth Sentry‘s 1969 Campaign Trail Tour, with equally solid support slots from Remi and Sarah Connor.
Connor, who recently dropped her wicked new single Apex took to the stage first, warming up the audience with her powerful beats and insightful lyrics. The crowd was filling up from early on, and the already-rowdy crowd lapped it up. The entire night was filled with special guests and surprises, and Sarah brought out Natalie Slade, Bigredcap and Losty to help deliver the killer first set of the night. Apex in particular drew the crowd in, with each MC spitting their own dynamic verses with fervour and energy that made the song sound even better live on stage. For anyone who’s not yet aware of Sarah Connor, make sure to check her out – she’s one of the best upcoming rappers and she’s only just getting started.
Remi took to the stage shortly after, accompanied by longtime producer and collaborator Sensible J on drums, and Hau on hype man duties. Easily one of the most talented and most important voices in Australian music right now, his energy and stage presence was phenomenal. Remi is gearing up to release his own new album Divas and Demons later this year, and performed a handful of new tracks to huge reception, including his brand new single Substance Therapy. The addition of live percussion added tremendous power to the already hyped set, made even stronger by guest appearances from Omar Musa (who also just dropped a great new single, Freedom) and the one and only Sampa The Great. After noting to the crowd that there a little too much testosterone on the all-male stage, Remi introduced Sampa to one of the biggest cheers of the night. The pair delivered an outstanding version of their brilliant collaborative track For Good. Their chemistry is palpable and I can only hope these two will head out on a co-headline tour some time soon. Remi noted during the set that it was his job to warm the crowd up, and he absolutely did; the room was almost at capacity well before his set wrapped up.
Last time I saw Seth Sentry live was at the very end of his fifty-date tour last year, the first major run of his 2015 album Strange New Past. The gig was animated and raucous, but I was so not prepared for how much has changed and expanded since then. From the very first moments of his set, it became clear he’d stepped it up a notch – or twenty. Booming electronic beats heralded him on stage, as the dark room was immediately filled with wild applause.
During my recent interview with Seth, he explained that things were going to be different this time; updated arrangements, a live drummer, new songs in and old songs out. But I really wasn’t expecting the magnitude of the energy, the sound and the production to have stepped up that highly. Backed by more live drums from Stevie Cat Jnr and DJing/onstage antics from DJ Sizzle, the crowd response was insane – not just on his most tried and tested tracks like Run, Waitress Song and Dear Science, but the newer cuts from Strange New Past that are now getting played live for the first time. That said, a personal favourite was Hellboy, what with the blackened stage bathed in dim red lighting, a sea of hands making the devil’s horn sign, and that jazzy bass line ringing out.
The crowd were rowdy and receptive – although perhaps a little too much at times. It would’ve only been after the first or second track that Seth had to ask people to stop throwing stuff on stage. Although, when he later parted the crowd to walk through and grab a beer (his version of crowd surfing, he noted, as he’s claustrophobic and understandably wasn’t keen to jump directly into a sea of thousands of bodies), the crowd parted so quickly and easily that he said it was the easiest run they’d ever done. Unfortunately whoever gave him a beer decided to do so in a plastic cup, not a bottle, so by the time he got back on stage there was about one gulp left. Oops.
Remi later came back out to join Seth for their track Nobody Like Me, before rounding off the main set with the track of the night, 1969. From the beginning of the night to the end of the encore, Sarah Connor, Remi and Seth Sentry brought out their absolute best to the beautiful Enmore Theatre.
Below, check out our full photos gallery of the night. You can also check out the remaining 1969 Campaign Trail tour dates – I highly recommend heading along.
Sarah Connor
Remi
Seth Sentry
Seth Sentry Tour Dates
FRI 29 JULY | DISCOVERY, DARWIN NT
SAT 30 JULY | THE GOV, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 05 AUG | CLUB 54, LAUNCESTON TAS
SAT 06 AUG | UNI BAR HOBART, HOBART TAS
THU 11 AUG | PRINCE OF WALES, BUNBURY WA
FRI 12 AUG | METRO CITY, PERTH WA
SAT 13 AUG | SETTLERS TAVERN, MARGARET RIVER WA
Photos: Danielle Hansen / Howl & Echoes
Seth Sentry has just embarked upon a new string of national tour dates in support of his new single 1969, from his 2015 album Strange New Past. We were lucky enough to catch the 1969 Campaign Trail tour at 170 Russell in Melbourne on Friday, July 8, the fifth date of his sixteen date tour, which kicked off last week in Ipswich and wraps up on August 13 in Margaret River. Seth was supported by fellow Melbourne rapper Remi, who is also readying the release of his new album Divas and Demons (out in September via House of Beige), and just last week released a powerful new song, Substance Therapy.
You can read our recent interview with Seth here, and check out our photo shoot too.
The remaining 1969 Campaign Trail tour dates can be found below.
Remi
Seth Sentry
Seth Sentry & Remi 1969 Campaign Trail Tour Dates
THU 30 JUNE | THE RACEHORSE HOTEL, IPSWICH QLD
FRI 01 JULY | HOTEL BRUNSWICK, BRUNSWICK HEADS NSW
SAT 02 JULY | THE TRIFFID, BRISBANE QLD
THU 07 JULY | WESTERNPORT HOTEL, SAN REMO VIC
FRI 08 JULY | 170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE VIC
SAT 09 JULY | THE WOOL EXCHANGE, GEELONG VIC
FRI 15 JULY | ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 16 JULY | ANU BAR, CANBERRA ACT
SUN 17 JULY | HOME NIGHTCLUB, WAGGA WAGGA NSW
FRI 29 JULY | DISCOVERY, DARWIN NT
SAT 30 JULY | THE GOV, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 05 AUG | CLUB 54, LAUNCESTON TAS
SAT 06 AUG | UNI BAR HOBART, HOBART TAS
THU 11 AUG | PRINCE OF WALES, BUNBURY WA
FRI 12 AUG | METRO CITY, PERTH WA
SAT 13 AUG | SETTLERS TAVERN, MARGARET RIVER WAPhotos: Michelle Grace Hunder
Seth Sentry is heading out on tour at the end of this month, in support of his new single 1969, taken from his 2015 album Strange New Past.
While it’s already been announced that Remi will be joining Seth as main support for the entire tour, the local openers have now been announced, including Nico Ghost, Mathas, Sarah Connor and more. Considering that homegrown hip-hop is enjoying an incredible golden age right now, we highly recommend you head down to the shows early and check out each artist.
Seth recently told us about how the new tour will also be incorporating a live drummer, as well as an updated set, having cut out a few old songs and added in a number of tracks that have never been played live before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbrL65_RBo
Check out the full tour dates below – you can grab your tickets here.
The support acts for each leg are as follows:
IPSWICH – LANE HARRY X IKE CAMPBELL
BRUNSWICK HEADS – THEVIKING N3
BRISBANE – LANE HARRY X IKE CAMPBELL
SAN REMO – CANVERSE
MELBOURNE – NICO GHOST
GEELONG – NICO GHOST
SYDNEY – SARAH CONNOR
CANBERRA – HAYDS
WAGGA – CLUE
DARWIN – REQUIEM
ADELAIDE – KIMENCE
LAUNCESTON – OTIS HIGH
HOBART – OTIS HIGH
BUNBURY – MATHAS
PERTH – MATHAS
MARGARET RIVER – MATHAS
Read our recent interview with Seth Sentry
And check out our photo shoot here.
Image: Danielle Hansen / Howl & Echoes
Melbourne hip-hop artist Seth Sentry is readying himself for a fresh 16-date tour in support of his new single 1969, the latest offering from his 2015 album Strange New Past. Complete with a White House-themed video clip and conveniently timed political news to boot, Sentry will be kicking off his tour later this month in Ipswich, alongside support from running mate Remi.
As we have continuously been documenting, today is a really, really exciting time for hip-hop in Australia. Seth has been around for longer than many, a crossover mainstay who began as a battle rapper, and now enjoys success with radio play as well as within the broader hip-hop community. A masterful wordsmith, playful, dexterous and clever with his rhymes, rhythms and influences, he brings a kind of energy and originality to the genre that’s been incredibly influential in terms of lyrics, beats, and sheer audience numbers.
I caught up with Seth in a cafe in Sydney on a chilly Winter morning. The last time we spoke was almost precisely one year ago; at the beginning of his album cycle, he was about to embark on a fifty-date national tour, followed by international dates, broke his foot, and most importantly, got a cat, Titan, eight months old. He chose the name Titan to be ironic, thinking he’d be small, but apparently he’s “massive”. He’s also been trained to sit, come at a whistle, and high-five. Would he write a song about his cat? Maybe, but “it’s not super tough,” he remarks. “You lose all your street cred in one song, instantly. I’d have to go to jail or something to balance it out.”
Good thing he’s heading out on tour, not prison.
You’ve got the 1969 tour coming up and it seems pretty fitting, especially with the video, around the US presidential campaign as well as what’s going on here.
Yeah, we didn’t really plan that, it all just happened at the same time, and now an Australian election – lucky I know nothing about politics! But yeah the video looked really cool, we got Grey Ghost who did a bunch of the videos off the last album, he’s really good with that kind of distinct visual style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbrL65_RBo
My favourite line in 1969 was, “Like pop, why would you wanna war on it [the moon]? he said what, Why would you wanna walk on it, my god, don’t ask why, ask why not” I find that really interesting, looking at the merit of space travel and exploration.
Well, they just did a bunch of dumb shit on the moon – as you would, but it was kind of cute, they played golf on it, cutesy stuff on the moon. They finally get to the moon and they just go for a stroll. But I actually got the idea for 1969 for a comedy skit from Mr Show (with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross). There’s a whole moon thing about blowing up the moon. I wrote it when I was really high for one thing, but I’d had the idea from Mr Show. Then I fleshed it out, and recently I said to my DJ, ‘you need to find some cool samples for the live show, jingles and old, weird, ’60, 70’s sounding stuff about the moon.’ And he stumbled across Mr Show, I didn’t tell him about it! He’s got all these samples from it, and there’s whole parts – I’ve been very liberal with what I’ve taken *laughs*
And speaking of space themes and aeronautics, you’ve kind of got your name on a plane now?
Yeah, it’s pretty dope, we’re running this competition where people put in this hashtag (#sentry69), and people are going to great lengths to win tickets to the show and accommodation and flights. Ten minutes after someone announced it, someone got a tattoo of the hashtag.
How do you feel about someone getting a Seth Sentry tattoo?
Um, flattered, but you also feel, like, have they made a big mistake? It’s right next to a tattoo of the hoverboard, though. But that’s not even the worst one. Someone has my face on their leg. A real, photo-quality face.
Is that weird? Have you seen it in person?
Yeah that one’s real weird. Not in person, but I’ve seen it in photos.
What do you with them? Free tickets?
Yeah, you look after them. Normally I give them a free ticket to the show. If someone sends me a crazy tattoo I’ll say we’ll sling them some merch and some tickets. But I don’t have any tattoos, so for me it’s just a huge, huge move. Like, fuck. You know that’s forever? What if my next album is a colossal failure? What can you do about the face? Put a beard on it or something? You know, I feel like making a flop of an album just to teach them a lesson.
So back to the tour, is there anything special planned for the show, anything themed? Going to wear a suit?
Here’s the thing. I would love to wear a suit, I’ve always wanted to wear a suit, but I’ll sweat straight through that motherfucker. If I was a singer and I could just stand and stay very still and strum my a acoustic guitar, great. I’m into that.
But when you’re running around…
Yeah, it’s done. Three songs in. It’s ruined.
Without having released anything between tours, how do you change it up?
This tour in particular’s gonna be really cool, after doing the whole cycle and playing the live shows in a certain format, with me and a DJ, and now we’ve got a drummer, it’s really changed th way we look at things. Having someone new on board – we’ve got Stevie Cat Jr who used to play for Kimbra, and he’s just this awesome, awesome drummer, and he’s able to look at the set from a whole different perspective.
We’re also gonna play a whole bunch of new songs from Strange New Past that we haven’t played before, getting rid of a bunch of songs that I’ve been playing since forever, cutting songs and changing the beats. It’s pretty exciting and pretty nerve wracking.
You recently spoke about how you started to miss rapping for the sake of rapping. I feel the same way about writing sometimes.
Yeah, because it’s become your job now.
Does that have a negative connotation? Does it take the fun out of it?
It does take the fun out of it a bit. As soon as I start writing something straight away, it’s like, oh shit, what project can I attach this to? Or I tell my manager that I’m working on something and he just goes, ‘oh you know what? When we do the deluxe edition of the album we can use that,’ and it’s like, man I just wanted to write for fun.
Do you just write for fun though?
Not really. I used to, but now I’m always working on a project, it kind of does just feel like work. So now I wanna go back to just rapping for the sake of it, just telling stories and not caring so much about what it’s going towards. I’ve been talking to other rappers who are in similar positions to myself, I’m trying to get a crew together just to get that back again. When I was young, you’d sit in a room in some shitty sharehouse in Fitzroy, everyone’s just sitting their with their scrap paper just writing raps and comparing it, just having fun with it, trying to write the most outlandish shit and just each other laugh. It doesn’t happen anymore.
Right, so you’ve always got someone saying, let’s attach this to this, or put a social media campaign behind it.
Totally! ‘Oh what beat are you writing to?’ ‘Oh shit, you know you’re not gonna be able to clear that sample,’ you know.
So if you did that would you be looking to record it at all, or just purely for fun, for the sake of rapping?
I’d be looking to record it, I wanna start putting free music out. I think it would be cathartic and conducive to getting that feeling back of just writing for the sake of it, writing, recording, shipping it out, not holding onto songs. Not even a mixtape, even a mixtape’s a project – just songs. Just stuff. I just don’t rap as much as I used to. I wanna not think about song structure. I wanna not care about getting a dope hook, I wanna just write a shit tonne of bars for the sake of it.
Seth Sentry will be on tour later this month with support from Remi. Tour dates:
THU 30 JUNE | THE RACEHORSE HOTEL, IPSWICH QLD
FRI 01 JULY | HOTEL BRUNSWICK, BRUNSWICK HEADS NSW
SAT 02 JULY | THE TRIFFID, BRISBANE QLD
THU 07 JULY | WESTERNPORT HOTEL, SAN REMO VIC
FRI 08 JULY | 170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE VIC
SAT 09 JULY | THE WOOL EXCHANGE, GEELONG VIC
FRI 15 JULY | ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 16 JULY | ANU BAR, CANBERRA ACT
SUN 17 JULY | HOME NIGHTCLUB, WAGGA WAGGA NSW
FRI 29 JULY | DISCOVERY, DARWIN NT
SAT 30 JULY | THE GOV, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 05 AUG | CLUB 54, LAUNCESTON TAS
SAT 06 AUG | UNI BAR HOBART, HOBART TAS
THU 11 AUG | PRINCE OF WALES, BUNBURY WA
FRI 12 AUG | METRO CITY, PERTH WA
SAT 13 AUG | SETTLERS TAVERN, MARGARET RIVER WA
Images: Danielle Hansen / Howl & Echoes
Off the back of his 2015 album Strange New Past, Seth Sentry is gearing up to take his latest single, 1969, on a fresh run of tour dates. Kicking off on June 30 in Ipswich, Seth is bringing running mate Remi along for the ride. Watch the video here, and peep the tour dates below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbrL65_RBo&feature=youtu.be
Seth Sentry Tour Dates
With support from Remi
Tickets here
THU 30 JUNE | THE RACEHORSE HOTEL, IPSWICH QLD
FRI 01 JULY |HOTEL BRUNSWICK, BRUNSWICK HEADS NSW
SAT 02 JULY | THE TRIFFID, BRISBANE QLD
THU 07 JULY | WESTERNPORT HOTEL, SAN REMO VIC
FRI 08 JULY | 170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE VIC
SAT 09 JULY | THE WOOL EXCHANGE, GEELONG VIC
FRI 15 JULY | ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 16 JULY | ANU BAR, CANBERRA ACT
SUN 17 JULY | HOME NIGHTCLUB, WAGGA WAGGA NSW
FRI 29 JULY | DISCOVERY, DARWIN NT
SAT 30 JULY | THE GOV, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 05 AUG | CLUB 54, LAUNCESTON TAS
SAT 06 AUG | UNI BAR HOBART, HOBART TAS
THU 11 AUG | PRINCE OF WALES, BUNBURY WA
FRI 12 AUG | METRO CITY, PERTH WA
SAT 13 AUG | SETTLERS TAVERN, MARGARET RIVER WA
Read our review of Seth Sentry’s Strange New Past
Photos: Dani Hansen/Howl & Echoes
Last year, Seth Sentry performed fifty shows in Australia alone, as well as European and UK dates immediately after. Evidently not one who enjoy’s life’s simplest pleasures, such as sleep, relaxation and binging on Netflix, he’s already back with a huge new tour, the 1969 Campaign Trail. The tour is kicking off on June 30 in Ipswich, running through to August 13, where he will play his final show in Margaret River, WA.
Joining Seth on tour is running mate Remi, who not only features on Sentry’s track Nobody Like Me, but recently dropped our favourite Aus hip-hop track of 2016 so far, For Good ft. Sampa The Great.
Seth’s 2015 album Strange New Past was easily one of the best Australian hip-hop releases of last year (for more, read our review), and his live shows are unmatched. The new dates are in support of his new single 1969, the fourth to be released from Strange New Past.
In addition to the tour announcement comes the premiere of the video clip for 1969, a journey through late 60s Americana, including Sentry as a president who lets loose once the cameras aren’t rolling, later transforming into a variety show-style singer. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VbrL65_RBo
Pre-sale tickets will be available from April 26, with general public sales the following day. Click here for more details.
Read our interview with Seth Sentry here
Seth Sentry 1969 Campaign Trail Tour Dates
With special guest Remi
THU 30 JUNE | THE RACEHORSE HOTEL, IPSWICH QLD
FRI 01 JULY |HOTEL BRUNSWICK, BRUNSWICK HEADS NSW
SAT 02 JULY | THE TRIFFID, BRISBANE QLD
THU 07 JULY | WESTERNPORT HOTEL, SAN REMO VIC
FRI 08 JULY | 170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE VIC
SAT 09 JULY | THE WOOL EXCHANGE, GEELONG VIC
FRI 15 JULY | ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY NSW
SAT 16 JULY | ANU BAR, CANBERRA ACT
SUN 17 JULY | HOME NIGHTCLUB, WAGGA WAGGA NSW
FRI 29 JULY | DISCOVERY, DARWIN NT
SAT 30 JULY | THE GOV, ADELAIDE SA
FRI 05 AUG | CLUB 54, LAUNCESTON TAS
SAT 06 AUG | UNI BAR HOBART, HOBART TAS
THU 11 AUG | PRINCE OF WALES, BUNBURY WA
FRI 12 AUG | METRO CITY, PERTH WA
SAT 13 AUG | SETTLERS TAVERN, MARGARET RIVER WA
Image: Michelle Grace Hunder
Just before playing a gig in Ballarat on Sunday, musician Thelma Plum came across a photo of two men from the Victorian city who were attending a party thinking, “it’s okay to paint their white bodies black and mock my people.” Rapper Briggs caught wind of the original post shortly after Plum posted it and proceeded, like Plum, to share it to his followers on Facebook, adding:
A number of fans and fellow musicians have chimed in with their support of the artists and enjoyed their take-downs of racist commentators who seem to think there’s nothing wrong with blackface with the rest of us. Now, Victorian rapper Seth Sentry has taken things a step further, banning several people from commenting on his page. However, that isn’t before he took the time to respond to several of the ignorant comments that followed his post regarding the issue.
Various sources from the Howl and Echoes camp can indeed confirm that racism is not a side effect of marijuana.
Melbourne label I OH YOU also gave followers who didn’t see the problem with black face (especially those going so far to defend it) very clear instructions on where to go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AskD3RtcARs
Image: Google
It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet, of this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:
Cub Sport – Only Friend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSUNXCKCTX4&inf_contact_key=06f54529afe2e1ded3c1fd5bbbe11d7d5dbfa925ab053aab7eccdc69d5d4b6b8
Having previously scooped up Australian Video of the Year honours from Channel V, Brisbane band Cub Sport know exactly what goes into the making of a good music video. This one accompanies their brand new single Only Friend, a prelude to their forthcoming album This Is Our Vice.
Directed by Joe Agius, from one of our other favourite Brisbane bands The Creases, the video delves into the seldom-touched themes of anxiety and depression. The song features a haunting synthy build up to a gorgeous chorus, the music video featuring the four members of the band stuck in the middle of a party full of revellers, highlighting the awful feeling of isolation even in the most celebratory of circumstances that is such a largely overlooked aspect of anxiety and depression.
Shot beautifully lo-fi, with all the fuzz of a well-worn VHS, and exploiting some heavy neon pinks and blues, the clip is visually fantastic (and features plenty of cameos from members of The Creases too). A nifty taste of their new album, which drops March the 4th next year.
Big White – Dinosaur City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0JaLlNSj9Y
Sticking with the lo-fi vibes for this one is the latest single from Big White: Dinosaur City. The track itself sounds like Robert Smith fronting an Australian new wave band from the 80s (a sound as outrageously good as you’d imagine) and the chorus will have you in a death grip.
The video makes the above one by Cub Sport look as thought it was 1080p, it’s a VHS bleed and so everything is just melting on the screen nice and warmly. There may be no velociraptors of any description but the video for Dinosaur City does feature the band running through what looks like a cracker of a night out on the town with swings in the park and a whole lot of alleyway dancing. It’s a feelgood clip for the summer and the track is an absolute standout.
Also in the spirit of the 80s, Dinosaur City is being released as part of a limited edition 7″ paired with a B-side of the Japanese version of their previous single You Know I Love You. You know we love you too Big White.
Moses Gunn Collective – Hole In The Wall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6-ahJvHIbs
Having released their debut LP Mercy Mountain earlier in 2015, psychedelic Brisbane legends Moses Gunn Collective have been riding a wave of roundly-deserved critical acclaim to back up the tsunami of hype that preceded that record. They’ve now released their third single from the album, Hole In The Wall and a video to go along with it.
It’s as summery a track as you’re going to get, the mellowed out and breezy psych rock vibes taking your ears for a blissful ride. The clip was filmed on a sunny afternoon in a field just perfect for rolling around in. It features frontman Aidan Moore in all white everything, having an absolute whale of a time playing guitar in a paddock as the sun goes down and copping a glitter shower to the face amongst other activities. It’s pure bliss on the eyes and the ears.
Editors – Ocean Of Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqlY2fxaFrw
The Staffordshire rock band came back with an absolute bang in 2015 with the release of their long-awaited fifth studio album In Dream. The latest single from that album, which stormed all the way to the top five of the UK charts, is Ocean Of Night. One of three tracks on the album to feature the vocal assistance of Rachel Goswell, the sparkly little piano melody will hook you from the beginning, the song burning slowly around the ghostly chamber vocals of frontman Tom Smith before an absolutely mammoth chorus.
The video, shot in a warm black and white, is comprised of footage both backstage and on from a sold out show the band threw on at Dublin Olympia. Stunningly shot, it’s as uplifting as the track itself and the reactions of the crowd are a ringing endorsement of Editors’ continued position at the forefront of modern rock.
CHVRCHES – Empty Threat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNHxwSp-6Og
September saw the release of Scottish synth pop trio CHVRCHES sophomore LP Every Open Eye, a record that built to skyscraper heights off of an already rock solid debut and one that has won over an enormous swathe of fans both old and new. The latest single and video to be released from that effort is Empty Threat.
Driving at 100 miles an hour, elating the listener to brand new heights and generally just being an absolute stomper of a dance anthem, the video for Empty Threat features firepower frontwoman Lauren Mayberry on a punked out road trip with a water park as the end destination, the safety pins and endless black juxtaposed nicely with the summer sun.
Catch CHVRCHES in Australia when they touch down here to headline Laneway and play some (already very sold out) sideshows.
Pusha T – Untouchable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPI_6MX74j4
President Pusha is in the house. The newly coronated overlord of GOOD Music recently announced a double drop of albums to cap off 2015 with Darkest Before Dawn and then again in mid-2016 with the long, looong-anticipated King Push. His latest single Untouchable is notable for its sampling of a lesser known verse from The Notorious B.I.G. (from the 1995 cut by Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard Think Big).
The lyrics over the minimalistic backbeat are just stupendous, Pusha calling out professional piece of shit Donald Trump in deliciously profane fashion as well as comparing himself to Tony Montana and U2 (with The Edge) in the same breath. But mainly, according to Untouchable, Pusha T is here to chew gum and sell drugs, and he’s all out of gum.
The video features Pusha riding around some tough looking streets in the night, living fearlessly because he’s King Push, President of Everything and he does exactly what he wants at all times. It’s a cracker of a clip and we’re grateful to our ruler for his generous spacing between future albums.
Seth Sentry – Fake Champagne
Seth Sentry has had one hell of a year. After releasing Strange New Past, he went on an incredible fifty date tour of Australia, toured across Europe, and just last night he went home with the ARIA Award for Best Urban Album.
He’s slated to perform at Falls Festival across the new year, but first comes the video for Fake Champagne, created using footage compiled throughout this year’s relentless tour schedule. The really nicely shot clips blends live gigs with highway stops, snowy landscapes, early morning flights and all sorts of ridiculous antics.
Lyrically, this was one of my favourite tracks on the album. A bitter judgement of trying to live a reflective and self-aware life while being surrounded by fake friends and what we assume to be both literal and figurative “fake champagne”. We hear that.