Yujen’s new EP is now one day out into the world and while I’m not one to stream full EPs (except for sometimes when I do)  I’ve still taken the opportunity to listen through the thing and pick out the first fruits of the six. Wait, no, the second. Heirloom from last year is on here and that’s my cut. Actually, we probably shouldn’t overlook the Chet Faker collab ‘Try It Over‘ which too isn’t without its merits and so we come to the third of the list, ‘Enough By Now’. It’s hazy and atmospheric and the sort of song that pushes music bloggers to use lazy descriptors in the absence of any stand-out minutiae for them to cling to. “Washes of sound?” – I’ll say it. “Bed of synth?” – I’m not above it. Maybe though, I’ve actually got it all wrong and it’s the sheer quantity of minutiae that together form one overarching blanket of noise so as that when vocals sink in, you barely recognize the door they entered through let alone acknowledge their arrival. Subtlety is the name of the game here and the game is being played very well indeed. No Aware EP is out through Detail Co. and listenababable in its entirety.

Spirit Faces is like climate change; it’s happening right now and whether or not you choose to act, it will affect the future of all humankind. That may sound like an ovestatement but come on, you’re reading an Australian music blog so if you’re shocked then you’re probably new to this. Sorry guys, that was mean. But it’s hard to write about a song that is truly exceptional; you don’t want to misrepresent it or impose your own meaning. Ideally music writing brings something additional to the tune; a framework or context for listening. Sometimes though, art causes a reaction in us that is visceral and limited by words.

This is one of the most fully realised musical pieces I’ve heard in a long time. It’s the real deal, the full package. There’s a significant weight of emotion behind the lyrics, a heaviness that feels genuine and unforced. The exquisite descending piano progression only adds to this. It swings effortlessly between melodic ballad and grinding synth onslaught in a way that pays tribute to influences ranging from The Beatles to Kanye West. Mastered by Vlado Meller (who as it happened also worked on Yeezus) and produced by Sydney’s own Zebra Zap, every moment is musically exciting and painfully gentle.

I’m told that this tune forms part of an upcoming EP called Bedroom Music. To see Spirit Faces live, get yourself to the Corner Co-op Gallery in Chippendale on June 27. Loads more info here.

I am a musical act that has variously been the following: the favourite band of everyone who matters in your life, featured on Pitchfork, completely disappeared from every radar, played shifty shows replete with Jay-Z and soft core porn (potential synonyms) and remixed everybody.

This was a real-life riddle I found on the wrapper of a Fantale yesterday. Obviously I near certain that the answer was Drake, but I was wrong. The answer is Fishinggg.

Fishing (the band) are in the active process of building the anticipation for their first record ‘Shy Glow’ which is due on the 6th of June. That’s not a clerical error by the way, despite a relatively long and storied existence as mainstays of Sydney bee bop scene, Fishing are yet to pull out a full length record-managing instead to keep the masses intrigued by drip feeding 7” singles, mix tapes, and erotic live performances.

They not-so-quietly dropped their first piece of new material from this new record a few months back in the form of ‘Chi Glow’, arriving online with a washed out video clip in tow. The track hints at what this new record is going to bring (a party, it’s almost certainly going to bring a party). To this party, Marcus Whale of Collarbones brings the vocal warp and also gets a haircut in the video, which is cool because haircuts are a great way to keep your image looking fresh. Fishing (the band)’s own guy Doug brings his rhyming daze (and eats noodles in the video – also cool). This is Fishing headed out in a different direction, an evolution of the bounce and beats that were so attractive in their formative times, matured into a track with depth and texture and retains that same beat pop pleasure.

Also, Tommy forgot to tell you that Collarbones dropped a new track a minute ago. He’s not sorry, not really, but I am. The new Collarbones jam is out ahead of their new Atlantis EP which is also lined up for a mid-year release, and shows the band underplaying their hand, keeping it real calm and putting up a watch this space sign.

Back to the main news which is Fishing (the band) who’ve now delivered unto us a second track from that new record, ‘Your Mouth’. Jonas Nicholls from Sures retains the coastal vibes with his reverb soaked vocals, which I’m reliably told is not an affectation but is a natural product of a superior voice-box and is present in his everyday speech. The tropical guitar fused production and the clicks and whips all hint at yet another arrow present in the quiver that is Chi Glow. I can’t help but think that this is a record that’s going to contain more than its fair share of surprises. Suffice to say that at the Sound Ducktrine offices the excitement is palpable.

So that’s all the news, enjoy your lives.

Maybe these are real drums we’re listening to right now, maybe not. Hard to tell these days, these new fangled sonic engineers can make anything sound like anything. You know the other day I was listening to a song thinking I was hearing a synth and it was actually a kangaroo. I kid you not, it was a wiley bedroom producer and he convinced me that a synth was a kangaroo. Wait, no, that a kangaroo was a synth. You know what I mean? It’s a crazy world. Up is down and down is up and Astral Classix are re-releasing Flume’s third album with a bonus track featuring guest vocals from Ice T’s hologram and the entire verse is lifted from his Law & Order quotes and the whole time you’re wondering, “Is this a sample or is this an actual band?”

In the end, I’m less than certain that there was a real life human hitting real life drums but I real life don’t even care because the song is beautiful. Such a clear, warm vocal line that’s not quite perfect but certainly comes close. Three guesses as to who leveled this one so perfectly though if you need more than one then you’ve not followed #melbournemusic these past two years. Tropical sounds that interpose between the more quickly plucked parts and the overlayed twangs are also, mostly likely the product of a keyboard and artfully arranged to leave no jagged edges, the whole thing sanded down to a perfectly flush surface.

Whatever this is, it’s undeniably pleasurable to listen to and a marvelous start for Leisuire Suite.

On Spookyland

the earth, clad in her coloured glory,
is
a pin.
no more or less, chaps.
perhaps several
overstatements have been made
about the size of her womb.
I know she is pregnant.
but maybe not as due as
she first seems.
there has always been clamour and clang
throughout the ages.
there has ever been the roar of pretense
and the deafening cage of violent thought.
but through the cracks of her pinched skin
some bard, prophet or thing
connects.
comforts, sums and protects
the swelled heart that pin
does long to stick
itself in