Perth-based dream pop duo The Money War — married duo Carmen and Dylan Ollivierre — can trace their origins to a road trip that the pair took across the States back in 2015. Inspired by the trip, the duo wrote and record ton of iPhone demos. After a chance meeting with producers Thom Monahan and Arne Frager in a San Francisco dive bar, the duo were convinced of the value of their demos together, and began to further flesh out their material, eventually leading to their full-length debut, 2019’s Home.
Since forming in 2016, the Perth-based duo have attained a national and international profile: They’ve toured with Meg Mac, Dope Lemon, Holy Holy, and Neil Finn across Australia and they’ve received an Australian Music Prize nomination for their full-length debut. They’ve made the rounds of the global festival circuit with stops at SXSW and BIGSOUND among others. The duo has received radio airplay nationally and globally with Double J, Triple J, BBC 6, KCRW, NPR — and they’ve cracked Stateside college radio charts. And in their native Australia they’ve been covered by Rolling Stone Australia, Tone Deaf, Pile Rats, and theMusic.
Last year was a busy year for the acclaimed Aussie duo. They released their sophomore album Morning People. They signed a global publishing deal with Mirror Music/BMG — and they had a baby. Continuing upon that momentum, the duo released their latest single, the slow-burning and brooding “Miles Away.” Centered around a gorgeous yet sparse arrangement of strummed acoustic guitar, gently padded drumming, and a mournful sax solo paired with Carmen Ollivierre’s plaintive vocals, “Miles Away” is fueled by longing for someone, who you can’t be with — because of distance and/or timing. Sonically “Miles Away” is a slick and soulful mesh of Still Corners and 80s Bruce Springsteen.
Money War’s Carmen Ollivierre driving down a country road, as though driving to the shore to think and reflect. We also see Dylan Ollivierre getting dressed in a jacket and tie, before heading to the beach for a stroll — and perhaps to hopefully meet his beloved.