Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 21 February 2020.
Sleaford Mods – Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn – stepped out of 2019 with a UK Top Ten album under their belt, Eton Alive, their biggest sold out tour to date and the swagger of a band that have never been more relevant, topically challenging and downright entertaining. Now 2020 sees the release of All That Glue, a collection of songs spanning the last seven years of the bands career; an array of crowd-pleasers, B sides, unheard tracks and rarities for fans and the curious, released via Rough Trade / Remote Control Records.
The band are currently on their first ever Australian tour, a playing a 10-date run of headline dates and festivals. The remaining dates are:
Wed 4 March – The Metro Theatre, Sydney
Thu 5 March – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne (sold out)
Sat 7 March – Golden Plains Festival, Meredith
Sun 8 March – A Festival Called Panama, Launceston
Mon 9 March – WOMADelaide, Adelaide
Wed 11 March – Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne
Thu 12 March – Triffid, Brisbane
Fri 13 March – Rosemount Hotel, Perth (sold out)
Sat 14 March – Rock Rover, Fremantle
Soccer Mommy—22-year-old Sophie Allison—has released her sophomore album, color theory on Loma Vista Recordings. The album is an unflinching exploration of mental health and family, transmitted through propulsive grunge guitars and bruising, poignant songwriting. The album is split into three sections, signalled by three colours that represent different moods: blue, yellow and grey.
Cedarsmoke return with a brand new single, “Keep Passing The Open Windows” ahead of the release of their new EP, Everything is the Worst (out March 20). “Keep Passing The Open Windows” is about the drag of everyday life. This a reoccurring theme throughout Cedarsmoke’s music and as the lead single for their new EP, it was more than appropriate for them to pull some lyrics from this song to use as the title of the EP.
Cedarsmoke will be launching Everything Is The Worst at Brisbane’s The Bearded Lady on the 9 April 2020.
New War’s third album, Trouble In The Air, is now out on Heavy Machinery Records. Trouble In The Air is a post-punk LP written for and recorded live on the largest organ in the Southern Hemisphere.
New War wrote and recorded Trouble In The Air after being commissioned by the City of Melbourne to create a new song cycle composed for voice, bass guitar, electronics and the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ.
Brisbane’s Selfish Sons are following up their debut EP released in early 2019 with their anthemic new rock track, “Sleep”. The track exemplifies the band’s growth over the past year and their solid ability to write powerful, tight-knit accessible rock that exudes their enigmatic personalities. ‘Sleep’ was written to help explain and provide insight into the burdens that come with insomnia and anxiety – a serious battle that frontman Jordy Marcs has faced in the past.
Selfish Sons are heading out on the road in support of the single with the following dates:
March 13 – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
March 14 – Wrangler Studios, Melbourne (AA)
March 20 – The Foundry, Brisbane
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David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
