New Music Releases 01/07/2015

New music for your ears including I'lls, Fractures, Mac DeMarco, The Laurels, Thundercat, Airling, Magic Bones & more!

NEW GUM SARN – MONEY TALKS

New Gum Sarn are a fresh new band from Auckland, the four piece have been playing together since 2014. They haven’t wasted their time, with ‘Money Talks’ being the third single the band have released in that time. Thankfully they aren’t just throwing shit at a wall and hoping to have something stick, they really excel with their songwriting and ‘Money Talks’ may well be the song that gets them some mush deserved love and attention.

‘Money Talks’, as you may discern from the track title and the long winded introduction to this article, is about money and the influence it can have on people. Front man Oscar Dowling drawls his way through the track, aggressive yet somewhat down trodden. It’s through his expressions that the song is able to come to life as his voice finds the tragedy in the line that money blurs betweens wants and needs. “Money talks to me/ 40 hours a week/ I go to school I’ve got a loan/ I learn to find a job to pay for things I’ll never own” has a melancholy to it and feels very real.

MAGIC BONES – DANGER I AM

Melbourne band Magic Bones, release their new single ‘Danger I Am’, a taste of their forthcoming album due for release in 2015. Keeping in tune with their latest releases, ‘Danger I Am’ is a driving garage punk duet, drowning in desire and urges to be drawn in by the unknown.

‘Danger I Am’ was recorded and mixed by Richard Bowers at Soundpark Studios with additional mixing by Ryan Miller (The Jezabels, The Delta Riggs) at Hercules St Studios and co- produced by Matt O’Connor.

KOI CHILD – BLACK PANDA

By now, the breezy town of Fremantle, Australia has a reputation for birthing some of the worlds’ best alternative music. Enter Koi Child, the combined forces of local hip-hop party starters Childs Play, nu-jazz quartet Kashikoi, the brains behind the smooth as silk debut single ‘Slow One’ & the riotous new offering ‘Black Panda’, both of which produced by Kevin Parker (Tame Impala).

At the end of 2014, Koi Child teamed up with Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, coaxing the visionary producer to a remote island south of Perth to produce their debut album, set for release through Pilerats Records later this year.  The Parker produced, ‘Black Panda’ serves as a second taste of the upcoming record, showcasing an aggressive style, tight instrumentation and an experience that takes on an auditory realm of its own.

THUNDERCAT – THEM CHANGES

Having already made outstanding contributions to not one, but two, of the greatest albums of 2015 – ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ and ‘The Epic’ - by fellow Los Angelians Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington, Bruner has now turned the spotlight onto his own music once more.

The mini-album picks up where 2013's Apocalypse left off, with Thundercat joined on production duties by longtime sparring partner Flying Lotus for six spiralling excursions to the outer limits of jazz-funk. The legendary Herbie Hancock pops up on keyboards on “Lone Wolf & Cub” and there are contributions from fellow Brainfeeder family members Kamasi Washington, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Mono/Poly on sax, strings and production respectively.

I’LLS – KEEP

Melding the ambient soundscapes and fractured electronica of late 90’s garage with warmly spellbinding melodic incantations and an air of post-millennial unease, I’lls have been quietly winning over a growing league of fans, fellow musicians and tastemakers.

'Keep' is one of the more tender songs the band have written in recent times. Lush guitar and synth brushes create a delicate soundscape full of starry-eyed, evocative introspection.

THE LAURELS – ZODIAC K

'Zodiac K' is the newest cut from The Laurels’ upcoming second record and marks an exciting new direction in sound for the band. Evolving yet maintaing The Laurels magic signature and sound we've all come to love. The band are also now joined by Jasper Fenton on drums who also plays in the prestigious Decoder Ring.

FRACTURES – REACTOR

‘Reactor’ is the first new release following Fractures’ debut self-titled EP in July 2014 and the first track off his anticipated debut album due for release in early 2016. 

Written, performed and produced himself, the track touches on the dreamy falsetto and intelligent electronica sound that first launched Fractures, yet his music continues to evolve and mature in content and approach.

DONATACHI – NEO (FEAT. BLAIR DE MILO)

After contacting Blair as a fan of his work, they discovered a mutual passion for 90’s R&B, and wanted to explore this further. Soon after Donatachi sent Blair de Milo a beat he had been working on which featured the Koto (a Japanese string instrument), and Blair instantly connected with the track. He started working at the lyrics and laying down some smooth R&B harmonies, which Donatachi felt complemented the track perfectly.

As the Koto strums away, an erratic thudding electronic beat paves the way for Blair de Milo’s passionate R&B croons to weave throughout Donatachi‘s impressively smooth production. Lyrically, ‘Neo’ is about the age-old habit of becoming trapped in a static but comfortable state of being. It’s a reminder that you need to face your fears in order to move forward and succeed.

AIRLING – STALLIN’

Local purveyor of dirt encrusted R’n’B, Airling (Hannah Shepherd) has made a sultry and fierce return with her new single ‘Stallin’’. 

The song follows her hugely successful track ‘Forces’ (co-written with Japanese Wallpaper) and takes a giant creative leap forward with an expansive East Coast hip-hop sound.