Track: Wrap up in the warm melancholic embrace of debut single ‘Snow Day’, from Naarm/Melbourne artist Hannah Potter. Rippling acoustic guitars and a cello that makes you weep opens up the absolutely gorgeous single 'Snow Day' from Naarm/Melbourne artist Hannah Potter. Her mellifluous and velvet-toned voce enters, gliding effortlessly over the surface like a silken veil on a babbling stream. This track is simply filled with an aching beauty that is iridescent. The repeated arpeggiated guitar has echoes of Radiohead, Potter's vocals recall Cat Power, P.J. Harvey or Sharon Van Etten at times, displaying an incredible rage, with delicate harmonies adding a filigree of gold. Potter recalls an early influence in her songwriting:

Track: Wrap up in the warm melancholic embrace of debut single 'Snow Day', from Hannah Potter.
@hannah.e.potter
#hannahpotter #backseatdowunder #video #track #debut #news #indie #pop

Track: No apologies needed – Naarm/Melbourne duo Wishlist unveil the iridescent single ‘I’m Sorry’. The new single 'I'm Sorry' from Naarm/Melbourne duo Wishlist is a delightful, wistful electronic salve. It coasts along on a liquid, bubbling instrumentation infused with an air of yearning and melancholia - essential ingredients for any pop song. Consisting of Stella Farnan and Soren Maryasin, Wishlist have crafted an evocative song, of which they say: At a point we managed to make it all come alive just playing acoustic guitars. But we weren’t sure if we’d manage to get it back in the computer again. We kind of ended up collecting all of these samples that became little arrangement building blocks that we fell in love with.

Track: No apologies needed - Naarm/Melbourne duo Wishlist unveil the iridescent single 'I'm Sorry'.
@wishlist.band
#wishlist #backseatdowunder #indie #pop #electronica #naarm #melbourne #track #video

Track: ‘Behave’! Lutruwita/Tasmanian chanteuse extraordinaire Lasca Dry unveils explosive new track ahead of debut EP and live date. We love a little drop of Lasca Dry here at the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia, and she continues to produce the most delicious brand of infectious pop to tempt our tastes buds. We proudly premiered her last single 'Messy Mind' late last year and the follow up single 'Behave' is an hyperactive blast of guitars and bubble-pop, surfing on scaling melodies and a certain insouciant cheekiness. There are traces of sixties beehive-laden kohl-eyed brilliance with luscious harmonies and an arched brow. This is a perfect panacea for the vicissitudes of life and you can imagine frenetically doing the Mashed Potato, the Monster Mash and the Watusi until you collapse in your velvet flares.

Track: 'Behave'! Lutruwita/Tasmanian chanteuse extraordinaire Lasca Dry unveils new track ahead of debut EP and live date.
@lascadrymusic @goodgumnutsfestival
#lascadry #backseatdowunder #indie #pop #video #lutruwita #tasmania #track #video #news

Live Review + Gallery: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds set fire to the Domain, Sydney, 24 January 2026, supported by the luminescent Aldous Harding Fittingly perhaps, bats floated lazily over the sun drenched Domain with the stark outline of Sydney's high-rises as a back drop. The crowds gathered on the gently rolling greens for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds's first gigs in Sydney for quite a while and it was magnificent. Support came from New Zealand's luminescent and enchanting Aldous Harding who set the tone early with a performance that was stripped-back, focused and quietly arresting. Her voice cut cleanly through the open-air setting, holding the crowd without needing volume or theatrics. The set felt deliberately restrained — controlled pacing, minimal movement, and an emphasis on mood rather than momentum — which worked well as a counterpoint to the scale of what followed.

Live Review + Gallery: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds set fire to the Domain, Sydney, 24 January 2026, supported by the luminescent Aldous Harding
@nickcaveofficial @aldousharding
#nickcaveandthebadseeds #aldousharding #TheDomain #indie #backseatdowunder #livereview #gallery

Album Review: All India Radio etch beautiful contrails of sound across the skies in new album ‘The Unified Field’. After a long absence, the ethereal All India Radio triumphantly return with the exquisite 'The Unified Field' - astonishingly their 21st album. Their absence has much to do with member Marin Kennedy's prolific creativity – witness in just the past couple of years the release of three albums with The Church’s Steve Kilbey (‘Jupiter 13’, ‘The Strange Life of Persephone Nimbus’ and ‘Premonition K’) as well collaborations with Gareth Koch (‘Music In The Afterlife’) and his heavy metal project Observers. Read my 2023 interview with him here. In 'The Unified Field', All India Radio return with a luscious sonic sweep that takes inspiration from the world of auteur David Lynch.

Album Review: All India Radio etch beautiful contrails of sound across the skies in new album 'The Unified Field'.
@allindiaradioband
#allindiaradio #martinkennedy #backseatdowunder #electronica #ambient #nipaluna #hobart #albumreview #news

EP Review: The legendary Sneeze return with visceral and louche EP ‘Bands Jobs and Girlfriends’. Sneeze are a legendary Australian pop rock band formed in 1991 by Nic Dalton (who runs the band's record label, Half a Cow and was in The Plunderers) on vocals, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, and drums, and Tom Morgan (from Smudge) on vocals and guitar. Both now residing in the NSW rural town of Maitland, they have reformed and released a new EP 'Bands, Jobs and Girlfriends' with input from original drummer Lara Meyerratken and longtime Sneeze special guest Simon Day (RatCat). Six songs are delivered over eight minutes, gestated over a long period between 1998 and 2025.

EP Review: The legendary Sneeze return with visceral and louche EP 'Bands Jobs and Girlfriends'.
@halfacowrecords
#sneeze #halfacowrecords #backseatdowunder #indie #maitland #pop

News: Dream Pop Queen Hatchie returns with the epic, glittering single ‘Lose It Again’ and announces new album ‘Liquorice’. It feels like eons since we heard from Meanjin/Brisbane Queen of Dream Pop Hatchie but in fact it was only in April last year that she released 'Kiss Me (Kill Me)' with RINSE (partner Joe Agius). These days based in Naarm/Melbourne, Hatchie (the nome de plume of Harriette Pilbeam) has made a sneak return with the epic, cinematic track 'Lose It Again', and all is well in the universe again as she announces a new album through Secretly Canadian. Her trade mark dream pop reverie intact, there is a delicious thread of melancholia weaving throughout the track with the glittering instrumentation and anthemic melodies ringing out.

News: Dream Pop Queen Hatchie returns with the epic, glittering single 'Lose It Again' and announces new album 'Liquorice'.
@hihatchie @secretlycanadian
#hatchie #rinse #backseatdowunder #indie #pop #dreampop #shoegaze #meanjin #brisbane #naarm #melbourne #track #news #video

Track: Fabulous Dreams follow up their debut single with ‘Measured By Mess’ – a glorious hip swinging dreamy pop delight. New indie supergroup Fabulous Dreams follow up last month's delicious debut single 'Strange Incantations' (see my review here) with new track 'Measured By Mess', and things are just getting better. 'Measure By Mess' kicks off with a swagger, high strutting and proud before the soft gliding velvet female vocals of Lauren Crew layers sweet honey over the ambulant motorik sound. The track builds up with an euphoric melodic blast: a wall of warm fuzzy cotton wool sound. A guitar solo cuts through like an ice breaker through ice and then disappears into the fugue.

Track: Fabulous Dreams follow up their debut single with 'Measured By Mess' - a glorious hip swinging dreamy pop delight.
@fabulous_dreams_band
#fabulousdreams #indie #backseatdowunder #pop #themarrickvillesound #sydney #track #dreampop #shoegaze

Track: The Valery Trails unveil new track, the nostalgic and anthemic ‘First Kiss’ ahead of new album ‘Winter Palace. Following their return single 'Everything Is Temporary' last month (see my review here), Meanjin/Brisbane trio The Valery Trails are back with another jangly slice of joy on the poignant nostalgic track 'First Kiss'. Songwriter Andrew Bowers says of the track: I wrote the song as an ode to young obsession carried by a raucous soundtrack that flirts with classic rock à la Redd Kross and The Hold Steady. I sent the demo to the rest of the band, quoting the wisdom of Spinal Tap – “It's such a fine line between stupid and clever” – and asking which side the lyrics to 'First Kiss' landed.

Track: The Valery Trails unveil new track, the nostalgic and anthemic 'First Kiss' ahead of new album 'Winter Palace.
@thevalerytrails
#thevalerytrails #backseatdowunder #meanjin #brisbane #indie #track #video #news

Premiere: Meanjin/Brisbane’s Shugorei team up with Shêm Allen and Karin Schaupp to release the shimmering single ‘The Charm’ ahead of new album. Shugorei‘s stunning live performance at the birthday bash of their esteemed label 4000 Records way back in 2021 first brought the experimental duo to my attention, and Backseat Mafia premiered their single ‘Meet The Sun’ back in 2023. They have now released the utterly enchanting single 'The Charm', in collaboration with vocalist Shêm Allen and guitarist Karin Schaupp which we are honoured to premiere.

Premiere: Meanjin/Brisbane's Shugorei team up with Shêm Allen and Karin Schaupp to release the shimmering single 'The Charm' ahead of new album.
@shogorei_music @4000records
#shugorei #premiere #backseatdowunder #meanjin #brisbane #indie #4000records #experimental #dreampop

EP Review: Look ‘Yonder’ – Sunsick Daisy unveil the shimmering widescreen wonder of a sophomore release. Fresh out of school and already finalists in the 2022 JJJ Unearthed competition, Adelaide's Sunsick Daisy  released their spectacular debut EP ‘Breathe In…Breathe Out’ in 2023 (see my review here). They have now followed this up with their new EP entitled 'Yonder' and it reflects a greater maturity and growth but with the same exemplary songwriting talents as before.

EP Review: Look 'Yonder' - Sunsick Daisy unveil the shimmering widescreen wonder of a sophomore release.
@sunsickdaisy
#sunsickdaisy #backseatdowunder #indie #Shoegaze #dreampop #EP #adelaide

Track: Take Fazerdaze’s ethereal ‘Motorway’ to a dreamy world of love and anxiety, with tours ahead. The sun always shines brighter and the general misery of the world dissipates somehow when there is new material from the luminescent Fazerdaze (the nom de plume of Amelia Murray) Buttrfly/Virgin Music Group, Fazerdaze has just unveiled a new single, 'Motorway', a track that is delivered over fuzzy driving insistent guitars before heavenly synths drift in and out and a motorik beat emulates the drone of rubber on tarmac.

Track: Take Fazerdaze's ethereal 'Motorway' to a dreamy world of love and anxiety.
@fazerdaze @buttrflyrecords @virginmusicanz
#fazerdaze #backseatdowunder #indie #shoegaze #dreampop #track #buttrflyrecords

Track: The Lemonheads release new single ‘Deep End’ (featuring J Mascis, Juliana Hatfield and Tom Morgan) with news of album, ahead of Australian tour. The Lemonheads are about to embark on a tour of Australia and in anticipation have release a blistering single 'Deep End', with news of a new album ‘Love Chant’ that will be released on Fire Records later this year. 'Deep End' features Evan Dando's trademark laconic delivery and pop sensibility, with the added frisson of wild guitars from J Mascis of Dinosaur Jnr.

Track: The Lemonheads release new single 'Deep End' (featuring J Mascis, Julian Hatfield and Tom Morgan) with news of album ahead of Australian tour.
@thelemonheadsofficial @fire_records
#thelemonheads #firerecords #backseatdowunder #indie #track #video #news

Album Review: Heligoland’s Karen Vogt releases the shimmering, ambient solo album ‘Haunted Woodland, Volume 5’. Australian-born Karen Vogt plays in the Melbourne dream pop shoegaze band Heligoland - who a few years back toured Europe and forgot to return home, ending up based in Paris. And while Heligoland have been relatively quite (although there is movement on the horizon), Vogt has continued to explore the world of atmospheric, ambient dreamy music, engaging in a number of collaborations with European artists (see work with…

Album Review: Heligoland's Karen Vogt releases the shimmering, ambient solo album 'Haunted Woodland, Volume 5'. @karenvogtmusic @heligoland_music @waysidewoodland
#karenvogt #heligoland #backseatdowunder #indie #dreampop #ambientclassical #albumreview #paris #waysideandwoodlandrecordings

Premiere: ‘Lean In’ and turn on to Off Judy’s sparkling, anthemic new single. We are very honoured to premiere the new single 'Lean In' from Bundjalung/Byron-based band Off Judy. 'Lean In' canters along with a luminescent sparkle: seemingly incorporating the gently dappling sunlight of the region with an easy going air of yearning. Finn Mcildowie says of the anthemic track:  This song is about embracing where you’re at, letting go of the past and accepting that you never really know what’s going on or what to do next - so just lean into it.

Premiere: 'Lean In' and turn on to Off Judy's sparkling, anthemic new single.
@offjudy
#offjudy #premiere #backseatdowunder #indie #punk #byronbay #bundjalung #track #news

News: The magnificent Cousin Tony’s Brand New Firebird are back with news of a new album, tour and euphoric gospel-tinged single ‘Rosewater’. Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird (CTBNF) last lit up the firmament with the majestic 'Smiles of Earth' album back in 2022 (see my review here). And the sun shines brighter in the Autumn light down under, with news of another album on the way through the redoubtable Double Drummer. Today, an early taste of what's to come arrives in the form of the magnificent new single 'Rosewater'.

News: The magnificent Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird are back with news of a new album, tour and anthemic single 'Rosewater'.
@cousintonysbrandnewfirebird @double_drummer
#cousintonysbrandnewfirebird #backseatdowunder #doubledrummer #indie #track #news

News: The ethereal Sigur Rós announce Australian Orchestral tour for 2025 with Sydney appearance at Vivid Festival added. Icelandic band Sigur Rós have to be one of the most innovative and exciting bands around - their albums are breathtakingly beautiful sonic journeys that are both immersive and thrilling. They are set to return to Australia for a run of truly special, one-of-a-kind performances in May 2025 (promoted by Secret Sounds and Double J) when they will bring their distinctive and ethereal music to stages in collaboration with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra.

News: The ethereal Sigur Rós announce Australian Orchestral tour for 2025.
@sigurros @secretsounds
#sigurros #news #backseatdowunder #indie #tour

Album Review: ‘After The Flood’ is a magnificent collaboration between legends Ed Kuepper and Jim White that glows with a passion. Following a thrilling tour last year between the two icons of Australian indie music, Ed Kuepper and Jim White have released ‘After The Flood’ on 21 March through Remote Control Records. Kuepper has also announced an extensive solo tour across Australia – his first solo gigs in five years following a series of gigs with a full band and with The Saints.

Album Review: 'After The Flood' is a magnificent collaboration between legends Ed Kuepper and Jim White that glows with a passion.
@jimwhitedrums @edkuepper @remotecontrol @feelpresentsau
#edkuepper #jimwhite #remotecontrolrecords #feelpresentsau #backseatdowunder #albumreview #indie

Track: Sydney’s Daily Toll deliver an über cool spoken word track ‘Killincs’ ahead of debut album. Sydney trio Daily Toll have announced the release of their debut album 'A Profound Non-Event' through Tough Love Records, and to give us a taste of what to expect, unveiled the track 'Killincs'. It's a gentle ramble through the meadows with a haunting introduction with a melodica before the instruments enter with a spoken word delivery that encapsulate a poetic aesthetic that is distant and evocative.

Track: Sydney's Daily Toll deliver an über cool spoken word track 'Killinc' ahead of debut album.
@daily.toll @toughloverecords
#dailytoll #toughloverecords #eora #sydney #backseatdowunder #indie #thedunedinsound #track #vidoe #news

Album Review: Balinese gamelan orchestra Gamelan DanAnda collaborate with electro-jazz fusion group Firetail to release the enchanting album ‘Anglayang’ The collaboration between Naarm/Melbourne-based Balinese gamelan orchestra Gamelan DanAnda and electro-jazz fusion group Firetail has resulted in the fascinating album 'Anglayang' which has just been released through Komunitas Records. Creating an absolutely enchanting fusion of modern western jazz music with the traditional gentle sounds of Bali, the mix results in something greater than its constituent parts - the sharper focus of the jazz fusion and electronica weaving in and out of the more ethereal hypnotic sounds of the gamelan orchestra.

Album Review: Balinese gamelan orchestra Gamelan DanAnda collaborate with electro-jazz fusion group Firetail to release the enchanting album 'Anglayang'
@gamelandananda @firetail_ooo @komunitasrecords
#gamelandananda #firetail #backseatdowunder #gamelan #jazzfusion #indie #abum #komunitasrecords