AJ Tracey
AJ Tracey has plenty to boast about. In a few short years, the artist from Ladbroke Grove has solidified himself as British rap royalty, dominating the mainstream as a fully independent artist. From his early mixtape days to his sophomore album Flu Game, AJ Tracey has been known for his distinctive, eclectic flow and hit singles. He’s the ultimate musical polymath with bars that blend seamlessly over any kind of beat: UK garage, grime and drill, trap, R&B and Caribbean soca music inspired by his Trinidadian roots. His list of collaborators reads as a who’s who of the international rap and R&B world – Stormzy, Dave, T-Pain, Kehlani, Headie One and more. And with 5.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, it’s safe to say the world eagerly awaits new AJ Tracey. Lucky for us, this announcement lands ahead of the imminent release of hotly anticipated new music.
Friday Feb 2, 2024 – Sydney Enmore Theatre
Thursday Feb 8, 2024 – Melbourne Forum
—————————————————
Paris Texas
Paris Texas are true chaos. The wildly inventive duo from Los Angeles blend various strains of rap and rock music into a fusion of pure energy and irresistible urgency. In doing so they’ve exploded out of nowhere with one of the most unpredictable albums of the year. Whether filtered through songs like the serrated ‘ahead’ or the pulsing playful ‘trying to kill me’, their commitment to whatever feels nakedly true in a given instant makes members Louie Pastel and Felix unmissable voices in music today, and essential translators of the end times. Drawing inspiration from LA’s famed hip-hop collective Odd Future, Paris Texas is for fans of Brockhampton, Kenny Mason and King Krule – but ultimately, they’re tearing up the book and making their own rules. It’s no wonder that Tyler the Creator is one of their biggest fans. Witness them unleash everything that got them here – the impulse, the masterplan, the groove and the cacophony.
Thursday Feb 1, 2024 – Sydney Oxford Art Factory
Thursday Feb 8, 2024 – Melbourne Night Cat
—————————————————
DOMi & JD Beck
DOMi & JD BECK’s music finds both humour and greatness in harmonic complexity, rhythmic shiftiness, and speed. DOMi favours sounds that evoke ‘70s jazz fusion and the colourful blips of 2000s Pokémon soundtracks, while JD tunes and plays his snare in ways that can sound electronic, channelling IDM and boom bap. Sometimes they’re stuffed into a bathroom and sometimes the drums are muffled by pretzels stacked on the hi-hat, or toilet paper tossed on the snare. Their acclaimed debut album – NOT TiGHT, released by Anderson .Paak’s new label APESHIT in partnership with the legendary jazz label Blue Note Records – is an attempt to bottle their goofy magic. Featuring collaborations with the likes of Laneway alumni Thundercat, Mac DeMarco and .Paak himself, the album earned them two Grammy nominations including Best New Artist.
Friday Feb 2, 2024 – Brunswick Heads Brunswick Picture House
Friday Feb 9, 2024 – Sydney Factory Theatre
Sunday Feb 11, 2024 – Melbourne Corner Hotel
—————————————————
d4vd
d4vd, born David Burke, emerged as a visionary artist only one year after he began writing and recording heart-piercing tracks alone in his sister’s closet in Houston, Texas. d4vd gained his now-eclectic taste in rap and indie music from internet wormholes and fan-made Fortnite videos on YouTube, which he began creating as a homeschooled teenager. Sick of running into copyright issues, he taught himself the basics on BandLab and started to record music to soundtrack his gaming videos. In 2022, after sharing the moody indie pop song ‘Romantic Homicide’ – which he recorded entirely on his iPhone – the penny dropped. The viral track landed him a deal with Darkroom Records while he was still in high school, the same label to sign Billie Eilish in her teens. Petals To Thorns, d4vd’s debut EP established him as a genre-defying newcomer and one to watch. After wrapping up his support slot on SZA’s North American tour, he’s heading to Australia – don’t miss these shows!
Friday Feb 2, 2024 – Sydney – Liberty Hall
Thursday Feb 8, 2024 – Melbourne – Croxton Bandroom
—————————————————
Hemlocke Springs
24-year-old North Carolinian Hemlocke Springs is one of the most talked about newcomers breaking into the alt-pop scene right now, but becoming a musician wasn’t always part of her plan. In 2022, Hemlocke Springs took an unexpected detour while studying bioinformatics at Dartmouth and ended up with two back-to-back TikTok viral singles ‘gimme all ur love’ and ‘girlfriend’. Then she backed it up on 2023 track ‘sever the blight’, an era-eschewing pop song that shows the full extent of her experimental ambition. With millions of streams to her name, praise from Grimes, and Bella Hadid, a slot at Pitchfork Music Festival Berlin and a debut EP going…going…GONE! out in the world, Hemlocke Springs has a fiery future ahead.
Friday Feb 2, 2024 – Melbourne – Night Cat
Wednesday Feb 7, 2024 – Sydney – Oxford Art Factory
—————————————————
RAYE
25-year-old South Londoner RAYE is an artist in hot demand. And the temperature dial is only going up. The highly anticipated release of her debut album My 21st Century Blues in February, following an exit from her record label, heralded RAYE’s arrival as an independent artist making music on her own terms. She refused to be pigeonholed into a single genre; and with the release of her debut album RAYE unknowingly shared the song that has become synonymous with 2023 – the viral, chart-topping smash hit ‘Escapism.’ ft. 070Shake. With more than 540 million streams on that single alone, her international achievements and accolades are now too long to list. New tickets have been added to Raye’s previously announced headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne, but they won’t last.
Wednesday 31 Jan 2024 – Sydney – Enmore Theatre
Thursday 1 Feb 2024 – Melbourne – Forum
—————————————————
Blondshell
With the release of her critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, breakthrough LA artist Blondshell has established herself as an undeniable star on the rise. She made an indelible impression at this year’s SXSW, performed a stunning version of her song ‘Salad’ on her television debut for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and has since played sold out shows around the world.
The record, a candid snapshot of early adulthood, is a coming of age rich with bitter experience and raw honesty, and has been likened to “the Cranberries’ angst and Depeche Mode’s shiny edges” (The Guardian). With Blondshell Deluxe Edition, the singer-songwriter delivers three new songs to her devoted fan base, including ‘Street Rat’, an open-hearted and dreamy grunge ballad that is already a staple of Blondshell’s live set.
On her Australian debut, Blondshell will be joined by local indie-rockers, The Belair Lip Bombs. With debut album Lush Life, The Belair Lip Bombs have meticulously sculpted a sonic experience that resonates deeply. It’s an immersive experience that captures the essence of longing, growth, and the ever-present search for a more vibrant existence.
Friday 9 February – Melbourne – Corner Hotel
Sunday 11 February – Sydney – Oxford Art Factory
—————————————————
Faye Webster
Faye Webster loves the feeling of a first take: writing a song, then heading to the studio with her band to track it live the very next day. When you listen to the 25-year-old Atlanta songwriter’s poised and plainspoken albums, you can hear why: she channels emotions that are so aching, they seem to be coming into existence at that very moment. Webster captures the spark before it has a chance to fade.
Faye’s last album I Know I’m Funny haha is her most realized manifestation of this emotional and musical alchemy. Continuing to bloom after her 2019 breakthrough Atlanta Millionaires Club, Webster’s sound draws as much from the lap-steel singer-songwriter pop of the 1970s and teardrop country tunes as it does from the audacious personalities of her city’s rap and R&B community, where she first found a home on Awful Records.
In the four years since Atlanta Millionaire Club, Webster’s profile has steadily risen—as she played festivals and theatres across the world, giving rise to legions of fans, she even found her way onto the end-of-year lists of Wilco and Tyler The Creator.
Faye Webster returned in 2023 with two new singles. ‘But Not Kiss’ towers as a modern love song and was released to wide critical praise, followed more recently by ‘Lifetime’, a stunning and sparse song of devotion. As she works toward a subsequent full-length, Faye Webster acknowledges that ‘But Not Kiss’ “says a lot about what’s coming.”
Wednesday 31 January – Melbourne – The Croxton Bandroom
Thursday 1 February – Sydney – Metro Theatre
—————————————————
Steve Lacy
Grammy award-winning artist and one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People, Steve Lacy will return to Sydney on the final leg of his Gemini Rights album tour. Written, produced, and played almost entirely by Lacy, Gemini Rights (2022) was an incredible leap forward for an artist who has already established himself as a true cultural force. The album was nominated for 4 Grammy’s, winning the award for Best Progressive R&B album, and reached #1 on the US Top Alternative and Top Rock albums charts. Lacy has over 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with the 3rd highest audience residing in Sydney and his Billboard #1 single ‘Bad Habit’ is now 3x platinum in Australia.
Lacy joined Californian band The Internet in 2014 while still in high school and made his recorded debut on their critically acclaimed album Ego Death (2015). He started releasing solo material in 2016, earning a Grammy nomination for his debut solo LP Apollo XXI (2019), before returning with breakout release Gemini Rights, which saw him perform at the 2023 Grammy Awards. At just 25 years of age, he’s already worked with an incredible array of artists including Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, Vampire Weekend, Calvin Harris, Solange, Denzel Curry and Mac Miller and produced the song ‘PRIDE’ by Kendrick Lamar.
Lacy returns to Australia off the back of a huge 2022 tour, which saw shows sell out instantly and venues upgraded to satisfy incredible demand.
Wednesday 31 January – Sydney – Sydney Opera House
Thursday 1 February – Sydney – Sydney Opera House
—————————————————
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
V is the definitive new record from Unknown Mortal Orchestra. With his sharpest-ever ear for “making it UMO”, Ruban Nielson evokes blue skies, beachside cocktail bars and hotel pools without ever turning a blind eye to the darkness that lurks below perfect, pristine surfaces.
The first double album in the UMO discography, V makes a strong case for itself as Ruban’s sunbleached masterpiece; it’s a breakthrough work from a mid-career artist in full control of his creative powers. The record is an exquisite collection of songs that evokes the 70s rock and 80s pop of frontman Ruban Nielson’s childhood, while exploring love, loss and his Hawaiian heritage. It’s about having fun while making music and art that transcends clout and currency and propels UMO to breathtaking new creative heights.
Last in Australia in 2018 playing sold out national dates, UMO have since toured the world, recently recorded a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, and will land down under off the back of sold out shows in the US, Europe and South America. Fronted by visionary Nielson, the band is a force to be reckoned with on stage, their live performance delivering something otherworldly and transcendent.