Hailing from the dynamic duo pairing of Raymo & Rich, the two bring their musical talents from Sydney, Australia with full force. The single Darkness not only mystifies listeners, but it also puts them in the eyes of the greats within the EDM sphere. Some good qualities of strong EDM music include riveting hooks, quality vocals, and superb mixing. RaR brings all three of those qualities and more within the track, Darkness. The vocal talents of New-Zealand singer Elizabeth Robinson really sets RaR in the realm of quality EDM, having the ultimate mix of talent within the track. With the right syncing up of Robinson’s vocals with the lyrics of “round and round we go”, it transcends more than just the idea of a song, and more into the expansive universe of RaR.
Hailing from Sydney, Australia, JDR doesn’t disappoint with their international sound. Their track Only U will remind listeners of EDM meets latin pop music. With the musical talents of Derrick Attwood, Joshua Paltoo, and Adam Xycore, its apparent why the band has risen in popularity. Between the upbeat tempos of their single Only U, impeccable mixing, and influences of music around the world, listeners are even more intrigued at their unique sound. With lyrics stating “the night is young, we have so much left to explore”, indicates a dive into youth, travel, and the feeling of possibility. All in all, 2018 is JDR’s year.
Busting in on the American music scene from Armidale, New South Wales Australia comes female singer-songwriters, Alexandra. Having an interesting past with people not taking her musicianship seriously, Alexandra has proved the non-cheerleaders and rooters wrong. With a vocal style that sounds like a rough around the edges version of Emily Haines and a more modern Joan Jett, listeners beware for strong vocals and intense lyrics. “So you better run boy run, I said they are coming for you” hails in as a thematic lyric throughout Criminal and those who listen to such lyrics can only infer that Alexandra sings about rough heartbreak and the pains that come with it. With intense percussion throughout the track as well, it only fuels the fire with additional lyrics such as “You better change your name and forget her face”. Produced by Keith Olsen, Alexandra’s sound comes off as intentionally stylistic and has a sound that is full of emotion, wrath, and fire.
Following the release of their debut LP last year and accompanying U.S. support tour, exciting Australian band Monks of Mellonwah are back with a brand new EP and Stateside trip to boot.
The alternative quartet has just released ‘Disconnect’ with seven new tunes. It follows a stunning few years for the band, as they took home awards in 2012, for International Rock Band of the Year and Best Indie Rock Band at the LA Music Awards and AIM Awards, respectively. Now though, with Grammy-nominated involved in the production alongside band member Joseph de la Hoyde and A&R Worldwide’s Monte Malone and Sat Bisla producing, they have bigger goals to achieve in the upcoming 12 months.
While 2014 album ‘Turn the People’ was an eagerly-anticipated release after years of promise, ‘Disconnect’ seems them aim to step up through the gears ever so slightly. Opener to the EP, “Never Been Good”, is a bouncy pop tune with a crunchy drum beat in the background built for the live arena and getting audience members to clap along. It’s a strong start and a good pre-cursor of what is to come.
Lead single “Even When It Burns”, is the highlight of the new collection of songs, it has an electrifying guitar riff that accompanies some haunting vocals; as electro-pop goes it’s catchy and has that haunting quality to it. Having listened to it a few times now, it has that essential ‘sticking’ factor, hours after listening to it, you’ll remember its familiar melodies and the chorus of ‘Even when it burns/ the simple things that I know I have learnt’, will be going round and round in your head!
“Show Me Something” has a building quality to it too, that drives the pace slowly but surely with a piano and drum kit. It has a dance music vibe to it too, with echoes of Chris Martin of Coldplay’s falsetto vocals on show too. It probably epitomises what the band are about perfectly in a three-minute pop song- with impressive vocals, catchy drumming and crisp production sound.
And that’s one half down, “Interlude” connects us through to the title track, “Disconnect”, in a Muse-style of theatrics. I’m instantly reminded of The Fray when the song kicks in, but the song develops into more of a love-lorn ballad with a pulsing electronic riff beneath it. It’s a warm, emotive song that strips back a lot of the bouncy tunes before it, and shows the lyrical warmth of the Monks song-writing.
In stark contrast, “Look At Me” opens with a Nile Rodgers-esque spiky guitar riff, throws in some ska drumming and the vocals of British band Don Broco, and a perfect song is made. It feels as though it is a song to be listened to only when the sun is blazing in the afternoon, cloudless sky, and an ice-cold beverage is in hand. It could be argued the song is a bit stagnant in how it really doesn’t develop and maintains that riff throughout, but when a song is this catchy (and yes that’s a word that has been used throughout this review, for good reason!), can you blame it for not going anywhere else?
And that’s almost the end of the road, with closer “Feel It Coming” signalling the end of a short dash of an EP. It is another familiar tale of a journey that sees the band build and build and build to a satisfying musical climax. This sounds as close to an emo-pop-punk as the band manage, with drums that belong to a heavier band during the breakdown late on. But it leaves food for thought, as that’s a possible direction the Monks could eventually take their music perhaps?
All in all, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not “Disconnect” can help the Monks of Mellonwah make that jump up to the top step in terms of musical quality or not. It sounds exceptionally well produced and is diverse enough to suggest that there’s something in the Australians. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out in the future for this promising collective.
What is in the water in Australia? Something great like fluoride obviously, because I have yet again been jamming to a track by a fairly new band from down under. Holy Holy began as a duo of Timothy Carroll and Oscar Dawson, and has been recently expanded to include Ryan Strathie and Graham Ritchie. The group’s name is indicative of the origins of their most recent single, “History”; songwriting borne from a miracle demonstrates just how talented these handsome globetrotters truly are.
Everything about Holy Holy is near-miraculous, in fact. Carroll and Dawson grew up separately in Australia, but met in southeast Asia, and became friends. Then, they both traveled to Europe, happened to meet up in Stockholm, and then decided they should make music together. They shared demos between Stockholm and Berlin for a few years, and are now finally back together in Australia joined by Strathie and Ritchie in the studio.
The track’s origin shares a certain fortuitous symmetry with the way the band formed. While in the studio laying down some other tracks that they had been working on, they tinkered with a tune they had barely started writing and ended up recording it on the spot. That miracle-baby-song is “History,” which is very rich in lyrical power and rhythmic honesty about the dishonesty of our pasts. “And the only risk you take is that all of your mistakes are right,” condemns Carroll. The song reminds me of the Joshua Oppenheimer documentary, The Act of Killing, an easy example of the winners rewriting history, washing away any stain of corruption or wrongdoing in their own administrations.
I could of course be exaggerating the meaning of “History,” but you can’t blame me for jumping to conclusions, especially conclusions of a politically motivated nature. After all, their single “House of Cards” was written to speak out against the poor treatment of those seeking asylum; looks like Holy Holy is turning out to be quite the U2. Holy Holy has creative melodies, but I would not be surprised if they ended up gaining fame due to their outspoken political views inside those melodies.
“History” is available on iTunes. You can find more information about Holy Holy on their website.
The Music Court 