Tag: Gabriella Cohen

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Wistful Sounds and Visuals of Soaked Oats’ “Coming Up”

Comprised of Oscar Mein (vocals, keys), Henry Francis (guitar), Max Holmes (guitar) and Conor Feehly (drums), the up-and-coming Dunedin, New Zealand-based indie rock act Soaked Oats are one of the first Kiwi bands to sign to highly-regarded Australian label Dot Dash/Remote Control Records, the label home of acclaimed acts like Methyl Ethel, Carla Geneve, Gabriella Cohen and Total Giovanni, which marks a huge career step forward for the band. 

Slated for a June 14, 2019 release, the band’s newest EP Sludge Pop will feature their previously released, attention-grabbing tracks “Driftworld” and Shuggah Doom.” The EP’s latest single “Coming Up” is a wistful and reflective track, centered around shimmering guitars, twinkling keys, a motorik-like groove and an anthemic hook — and while being a striking road trip anthem, the song possesses the tacit understanding that things are fleeting; that the good times do end — and that eventually all you’re left with is the t-shirt, the pictures and nostalgia. “I had just written the first half of the lyrics as a poem. I was trying to personify a low morning in the immediate surroundings of a bedroom,” the band’s Oscar Mein says of the song’s creative process. “Henry [Francis] sent through a demo he had done, titled “coming up from behind,” and I started playing around with applying the poem to the song while working within the title he had given it. I wrote the last few lines in a more positive headspace with Tom Bell at Chicks Hotel, where we recorded it. Tom Healy added a bunch of nice stuff to this song, and it wouldn’t be what it is without him, especially that acoustic guitar that chimes through when we get grooving and the synth parts, too — plus a lot of other tasty bits.” 

Directed by Jake Munro, the black and white video for “Coming Up” follows the band during their travels in a 34 foot 1980s RV that they called home for their 10 week, 20,000 mile DIY-styled US tour last year. The viewer follows the band through urban, suburban and rural America, passing through mobile home parks, farms and waterfalls — with stops at underground DIY venues. Unsurprisingly, the video further emphasizes the song’s nostalgic vibes, while capturing the longing for a profound experience you’ve once had. “The footage was captured on mountains of rolls of Super 16 and Super 8mm film. Jake (Munro) and I retreated to a cabin on New Zealand’s wild west coast of the South Island and spent days trawling through it all to find the excerpts that fitted and established the progression found within the song,” Mein says of the video. “Jake threw the word ‘painstaking’ around to describe his experience of the process. We had a good time. The main destinations we see in the video are Virginia, Nashville, New Orleans, and NYC.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Introducing Up-and-Coming Australian Singer/Songwriter Grace Turner

Last year was a breakthrough year for the up-and-coming, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Grace Turner as her single “Dead or Alive” received attention in North America, landing on Spotify US’ Viral 50 Playlist and Apple Music’s Best of the Week. Following the track’s release, Turner opened for Alex the Astronaut, Gabriella Cohen, Jess Locke and Kingswood — and since then, “Dead or Alive” has amassed more than 500,000 streams. In her native Australia, Turner was named a triple j Unearthed Artist of the Week, and her latest single “Easy I Fall,” which was released a few weeks ago in Australia received airplay on triple j and FBi. 

“Easy I Fall” was recently released across North America and the track will further cement Turner’s growing reputation for a sound that meshes elements of indie rock with alt country, compete with jangling chords during the song’s verses, fuzzy power chords during the song’s soaring hook and chorus. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to the work of Bryde, Eliza Shaddad, Ruby Boots and others, Turner’s latest single is centered around an unvarnished and unfiltered honesty. In this case, the song’s narrator openly talks about a relationship teetering on the brink — and while the narrator’s love interest is trying his best, the narrator realizes that the relationship is over, and that it’s been over for a while; in fact, she’s been trying to tell her lover that she’s wanted to leave for some time. And as a result, the song captures the indecision, fear and awkwardness of relationships as they inch towards their inevitable end. 

Filmed, edited by videographer James Rhodes and co-produced by Rhodes and Turner, the recently released video for “Easy I Fall” was shot in Super 8 Film at The Royal Exchange, a quaint theater in Turner’s hometown. Standing in front of a floral background that recalls the work of Frida Kahlo, the video features Turner in two dresses made by designers Millie Shorter and Ellie Hannon from scratch — an 80s inspired, big-shouldered flower print dress and a simple white dress with jewelry shaped like enormous third eyes. The video captures Turner in some visually overstated scenarios while she performs with an understated yet candid presence. 

Building upon the growing buzz surrounding her, the Newcastle, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist announced that she’ll be playing at this year’s SXSW and a run of solo dates with Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Sophie, Annabel, Cecil and Georgia, Body Type are a Sydney, Australia-based — by way of Perth, Australia and Kiama, Australia — indie quartet that formed a little over six months ago and began receiving attention for material that thematically focuses on navigating heartbreak to the banality of life in in a moldy Redfern terraced house — and for opening for the likes of Gabriella Cohen, Cate Le Bon and The Coathangers. Adding to a growing national profile, the Sydney-based quartet recently signed to Our Golden Friend Records, who will be releasing the “Ludlow”/”264” 7 inch single, featuring their debut single “Ludlow” and their latest single, the moody and slow-burning “264.” While sounding as though it were indebted to jangling guitar pop and Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound-era production, the song manages to feature lyrics that describe the day-to-day life of in and around a shitty little house with a novelist’s attention to detail, a soaring bridge and a sinuous bass line holding it all together. It’s a gently swooning and moody take on a familiar and beloved sound — and it reveals a young band playing and writing gorgeous material with a cool, self-assuredness.