Features September 9, 2019

11 acts everyone’s talking about post-BIGSOUND 2019

Kasey Thompson

Last week, The Industry Observer embarked on the trek up to Bris-Vegas for the annual drink our weight in free bar tab BIGSOUND Festival and Conference.

We made lots of good discoveries, mostly that you can’t stay out until 4am every night and then be a functioning human being by 10am when the next day of keynotes and panels kick off; but in addition to this very unsurprising revelation, here are the 11 ace acts we’d most like to take home to meet our mothers.

TOWNS

If you have no idea who Towns are, get acquainted ASAP. Currently on tour with Eat Your Heart Out, this Adelaide duo will have you singing along at first listen, even if you don’t know the words.

With their explosive stage presence and ear catching alt-rock hooks, Towns are the ultimate “take home to ya mum material”.

Aquila Young

Serving up charismatic and dark synth-pop perfection, Aquila Young with her mystically commanding presence and her resonant vocals had the back of the room moving ‘Closer’, and the front of the room hanging on her every note.

Backed by lush swelling guitar parts and huge drum sounds, the artist’s brooding tracks make you want to simultaneously dance and have an existential crisis.

Dulcie

Mesmerising group harmonies and catchy-as-anything songwriting, Dulcie were big winners in our books. The band’s style is reminiscent of Meg Mac if she was a shredding goddess on the guitar.

DVNA

Best summed up as a sassy bold soundscape will target your heartstrings and drop you into your feelings without letting you wallow in them, DVNA is a fierce self-produced electronic soul queen with hooks that will cycle in your head long after your first listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DGdMcjGv-Y

Butter

With a neo-soul wall of sound, Butter can best be elevator pitched as a mini Snarky Puppy. Cutting their teeth on the Perth gig circuit, the band are the perfect blend of soul, jazz and 90’s hip-hop.

They’re also serious fun to bop/groove along to and had punters flocking to witness the sheer volume of musical talent on stage. Undoubtably a highlight of the festival, check out their vibes in full force below.

Jaguar Jonze

We don’t even have words for how good Jaguar Jonze’s set was (which is problematic considering we’re journalists and writing is literally how we pay our bills). With her dark and upbeat spaghetti Western soundscape and moves that will have even the crowd members with two left feet booging away, the girl is clearly going all of the places and you need to catch up before You Get Left Behind ;).

The Dead Love

The Dead Love’s brand of alt grunge/punk rock is one that you might not take home to your mother, but she still knows you’re involved with because she can hear you blasting them through your bedroom wall (too far? ?).

Equal parts Nirvana, Luca Brasi and Violent Soho, this band is a force of nature to watch live.

Rebecca Hatch

Rebecca Hatch offered sultry neo-oul that had us breaking out Google to check that she wasn’t related to SZA or Erykah Badu. With her melodically remarkable hooks and smooth production style, this impressive 18-year-old Samoan and Australian Indigenous singer/songwriter is making some seriously good tunes that should be heard by all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LFgka5pV7Y

Tones and I

If you managed to find a single person in the room that didn’t lose their shit when ‘Dance Monkey’ came on, then congratulations, you found the human form of the ?emoji.

Bringing her hype and brand of colourful pop to the triple j Unearthed stage at the festival, Tones and I‘s infectious and lively stage presence was distinctive and a cut above a lot of the other pop acts in today’s market.

Being Jane Lane

While this band may come across as DIY punk, the guitar tones are so killer and reminiscent of what it would sound like if you threw the Arctic Monkeys and Hole into a rehearsal room and asked them to jam. Being Jane Lane serve up fun and melodic punk tracks that inspire even the most reserved of crowds into forming a circle pit.

Front woman Teigan even joins the crowd in the pit multiple times throughout the bands set which elevates the bands authentic grunge aesthetic by at least 10 points.

Saint Lane

With an air of earned confidence that rivals the likes of Kanye West, Saint Lane’s brand of hip hop is cheeky whilst still taking its self seriously. Impressively commanding crowd attention as a solo act and “frontman-ing” whilst simultaneously DJ-ing, the rapper also has a wholesome lyric about helping ya mum with the groceries, so you know he had to make our list.