This month's instalment features electro-pop talent Parker, indie band The Tinderboxers as well as Lennon Wells.
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The Examiner spoke to all of them about one of their newest singles to uncover the story and method behind it.
TINDERBOXERS
The Hobart four-piece band are one of the best new things on the Tasmanian music scene.
With stylings of Ball Park Music, the group supported Maddy Jane on her recent state tour.
One of their latest hits, Lucky to Be Alive, is an anthemic indie rock slow burn recorded for the Hobart School Strike for Climate.
Band member Alex Buktenica said the song came at a time where there was significant angst in the community about climate change.
"Lucky to Be Alive was written for and was first performed at Hobart's record-breaking School Strike for Climate in front of 22 thousand people," Buktenica said.
"The song confronts the issue of climate anxiety head on.
"I wrote it during Tasmania's terrible 2018-2019 bushfire season.
"The lyrics weave the everyday events of passing time with constant angst for an uncertain future, and comment on the amplifying effect social media has on this experience."
It's no surprise that The Tinderboxers are inspired by Ball Park Music with those guitar rifts evident throughout Lucky to Be Alive.
"Our biggest influences as a band have definitely been Australian indie rock legends Ball Park Music. We have also been influenced by overseas artists such as Declan McKenna and an American band called Alvvays," Buktenica said.
"As a whole, we have never really based ourselves strictly off any other artist. We all have different tastes in music and bring them to the table when we rehearse."
One of the best parts of Lucky to Be Alive lies in the simplicity of the track.
Using climate change as its muse, it would be easy to overwhelm the track but Zarven Kara kept the song grounded.
"We recorded Lucky to Be Alive at Zarven Kara's Reel to Reel Studios in the beautiful town of Margate, about 30 minutes out of Hobart. It was recorded in one day," Buktenica said.
"We knew what the recording needed to sound like going into the studio. We tend to get overwhelmed with all the potential arrangements and Zarven really helped us to keep it stripped back and simple, which is what this song needed."
Buktenica said the anthemic tune stood alone in their discography.
"I think Lucky to Be Alive is a very stand alone song compared to our other work.
"It felt important to us as a band to release it at the end of last year ... we thought that as a community we are in great need of reminders that - as is reflective in the song's anthemic refrain and title - we are, after all, lucky to be alive."
LENNON WELLS
Slowly Dying is one of the latest tracks from Tasmanian band Lennon Wells which will be part of the band's upcoming record set to be released later in the year.
The up-tempo track is a definite toe-tapper with its punchy drums and fast rifts rolling against Benjamin Wells vocals for an energetic single.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Band member Benjamin Wells said the track was part of a reflection on the years gone by and a reminder to live in the moment.
"I wrote Slowly Dying just after my 28th birthday, it was a bit of a reflection piece," Wells said.
Looking back on my 20's and deciding whether or not I thought I'd spent the years well and at the same time I was kind of telling myself that it didn't matter as long as I live in the moment now, which I'm terrible at doing."
Lennon Wells has added new members in recent times and with that has come an expansion in their sound which Wells explained.
"This was really the first project I'd written for that I hadn't played the songs live first. So the sound really grew and changed quite a lot in the studio," he said.
"I'd say when we added Matt Doyle on guitar and Scott Targett on keys/organ was when the sound grew into what it is now, that kind of country rock and roll vibe.
"In terms of influence, I guess we really wanted to make a record that sounded exactly like it did live, no backing tracks or anything like that, which was actually kinda hard 'cause I find it really easy to get carried away in the studio."
Wells said the new track had come together quickly despite COVID restrictions keeping the band separate.
"I wrote all of these in a month or so.
"In terms of the actual recording process, that's still going, so over a year in the studio.
"We started the record over lockdown, so it was just Skinner, Al Campbell and I in the studio, which did mean we couldn't record the entire band together but at that point, we didn't know when we'd be able to so we just had to go for it."
Wells said the new track was a taster of things to come from the band who have a few surprises left in store for fans later this year.
"In terms of the writing, Slowly Dying is a pretty good example of what's to come on the record musically it does vary a little but I feel like that's the general vibe," he said.
We all really love playing live, so expect a big live show. I'm not playing much guitar on this record so that frees me up to run around a bit which I'm really enjoying."
"We should have a new single out in the next month and a bit and hopefully the ep will be out before the end of the year. I am really interested to see if people think it's as cohesive as I do, so I guess I'll find out then!"
PARKER
If electronic pop is the more your style then rising talent PARKER is one to check out. Her newest single Lie Low combines soaring electronic atmospheric beats with Bjorn-esque glitched vocals for a haunting pop tune.
Parker said that her new track Lie Low came from personal experience.
"I wrote Lie Low about my experience of being in a relationship where I gave up too much of myself to support the man I loved," she said.
Throughout history it has been common for women to play support roles to their male partners in both work and domestic life."
"The video clip we made for this song represents this imbalance in relationships by paint and colour being drawn from one character to another.
With a sound reminiscent of Australian indie-pop stars Vera Blue and Emma Louise, PARKER has the tools to thrive on stage.
Parker said that her influences were mixed and varied but had grown her sound to what it is today.
"I have been listening to Fiest, Bjork, Robyn and Tune Yards a lot over these past few years so I think they have all influenced my sound in different ways," she said.
The haunting nature of the track is punctuated with a raging ending which Parker labelled a cathartic experience.
"I recorded the bridge [the really intense part of the song], at home in Launnie.
"I set up a mic in my bedroom and just yelled and screamed and made a whole lot of crazy sounds.
"It was a very cathartic experience.
With more music on the way in 2021, Parker looks set for a prolific and potentially breakout year.
"This song is part of a suite of songs I've written over the past few years. It sits well with my past singles but is also an evolution," she said.
"I have some more new music coming out this year and I have been collaborating with some other producers so the new stuff will be quite different but still in the alternative electronic art-pop genre."
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