Best Of: September 2020
September was strange. In the midst of 2020’s usual cataclysm and hope hurricane feeling forever all encompassing I found myself listening to old favourites. For me, this month was filled with Briggs’ incredible Sheplife on repeat, Bruce Springsteen songs of self belief blaring through headphones and RAT!hammock’s just impossibly perfect 2017 B-side Mud.
That said, I found time for new music. It is cathartic and uplifting to find new music. It’s a reminder that in the face of everything, creativity and genuine individual brilliance is fundamentally a part of human nature. It’s nice to be reminded we are more than a virus or an election.
That uplift combined with the genuine punch in the face to independent musicians that was Thursday’s AIR Awards has me feeling the importance of spaces like Laundry Echo. There is music out there that deserves to be heard. One thousand unique visitors land on Laundry Echo each month. Most are most likely reading about an artist they already love, some finding a song to sit with and others probably looking for a laundromat.
For whatever reason you find yourself reading this, welcome and I hope the songs I have chosen bring you joy. If you are an artist who I have written about in this article, or any article, you are brilliant, beautiful and your value is immeasurable.
I’ve already dived into new music from OK Hotel, Not Good, Not Bad and Matt Hsu's Obscure Orchestra, but here are the songs of September I have truly loved.
EGOISM - Here’s The Thing
In a job interview last year I had to name 5 artists that I thought were truly special to the future of Australian music. EGOISM were the first band on the list.
Delicate, self aware and always intelligent in their songcraft, EGOISM continue to release songs that will break you. Latest single Here’s The Thing tackles relationship strain and breakdown in such a stunning way that leaves its listener feeling electric. Tapping into memory and emotion, Here’s The Thing ruins you.
EGOISM speak for themselves, I could write more on the latest single but it would not do the band justice. Just listen, and continue to listen.
Brendan Maclean - Gemini
The first time I truly heard Brendan Maclean was a ukuele cover of Bee Gee’s classic Stayin’ Alive on the god awful The Morning Show. The cabaret production VELVET was pitching for a season at Canberra Theatre Centre and it was one of the assets sent through to the marketing team to determine whether we’d pick the show up. I’d heard Brendan Maclean, I followed him on Twitter, I knew the artist but that performance absolutely slapped me in the face and made me pay attention.
When an artist can take an untouchable classic and birth it into something of their own, breaking your expectation of the song in the process, it’s something that stays with you. What did it for me on that first proper listen of Brendan Maclean was their truly unmatched power of voice. Emotive, with genuinely huge range and truly pristine.
Latest single Gemini immediately transports me back to that first time truly hearing Maclean.
Brendan Maclean sounds immense on a single of kindling emotions and finding romantic spark. It took me multiple listens to realise the scope of the production behind the vocal delivery, which in itself is huge. So strong though is that pure, powerful vocal lead that it grabs you, entrances you and holds you close for the full four minutes.
All encompassing and absolutely beautiful, Gemini, is right up there when I start thinking of my favourite songs of the year lists.
SNAPE - Took Too Long
18 words. Two minutes and thirty seven seconds. One transformative experience of dream pop emo indie that will stay in your head for weeks on end. SNAPE’s latest single sparkles over dark undertones and carves out a place that feels so unique to SNAPE. Took Too Long amplifies a chorus to the extent you don’t find yourself looking for anything more. Instrumentation fills this song in a way that has it overflowing with a emotional expression that each listener will find unique to themselves.
It is remarkably intelligent songwriting from a band that have grown from writing music from the perspective of Severus Snape to being an unmissable staple of the Sydney DIY scene.
Here are the lyrics in full, imagine for a moment being talented enough to transform this paragraph to the song you just listened to:
It took too long
To get over and through
I tried to move on
It didn't matter when
Genuinely brilliant.
Julia Johnson and the Deep Sea Sirens - Little Surprises
Why do we insist on living within a single cycle? Does a music discovery site really need to post music from the week they are writing about it in? And does it really matter if you find yourself rediscovering a song you truly loved from 8 years ago? Probably not. Not much really matters at all I guess.
As I said at the start of this article I’ve found myself falling back on old favourites all month. Maybe it’s longing for something simpler out of life than the situation we all find ourselves in now. Or maybe it’s because I saw a Facebook post from Julia Johnson and was flooded with positive memories. For whatever reason it is, I’ve found myself listening to a lot of Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens this last week .
2012 was a golden era for Canberra music and very few artists could top Julia Johnson and the Deep Sea Sirens. I remember The Phoenix Pub packed to capacity but looking empty in comparison to the tiny stage that Julia Johnson crammed her band onto. From memory the band spanned somewhere from 7-12 or maybe 14 members, I really can’t remember. All I remember is being in absolute awe of this remarkable songwriter. I still am, Julia Johnson continues to put out truly phenomenal music.
2012’s Little Surprises feels as refreshing as ever 8 years on from its original release. A song of things going wrong but falling into place. Of car crashes, falling in love and the unpredictable positives that pull us through life.
It’s a very perfect song for picking up the pieces of 2020 and feeling okay again.
