Another week, another chance to dive into the depths of New Music Friday
The weekend is just around the corner, and we’ve made it, friends!
Before we clock off and crack a cold one, we’ve rounded up this week’s standout new releases for Aus Music Month.
Here are the tracks we’re obsessing over– we’re in love, and we think you will be too.
Pacific Avenue – ‘Here We Go Again’
Pacific Avenue return with ‘Here We Go Again’, a big-hearted indie-rock anthem built on nostalgia, devotion and the tiny moments that anchor a relationship. It’s earnest without being soft, full of chiming guitars and emotional lift.
The shifting lyrical perspective adds bite, calling out the hard-to-love moments we’d rather forget. A strong early sign that Lovesick Sentimental will be a heavyweight sophomore record.
IamThami – Family Ties
South African-born, now Australia-based rapper Thami drops a tight, mood-soaked cut with Family Ties. Built on melancholy atmospherics and Future-esque shadows, the track drifts between late-night introspection and razor-focused delivery.
It’s sleek, beautifully produced, and another sharp step from an artist quietly building something special.
Jem Cassar-Daley – ‘Are We Too Bored To Be Sorry?’
Jem doubles down on honeyed heartbreak with ‘Are We Too Bored To Be Sorry?’, a bittersweet pop cut that turns emotional exhaustion into something quietly devastating. Co-written with Joel Quartermaine and Ed White, the track circles the toxic loop of arguing, making up, breaking down, and doing it all again.
Jem’s vocal is the pull here, soft, sincere and brutally aware. Heartache rarely sounds this pretty or this painfully self-aware.
MUNGMUNG – ‘IAM’
MUNGMUNG storms back with ‘IAM’, a trap-pop flex brimming with charisma and early-2000s sparkle. Produced by Taka Perry, it’s bold, sticky and bursting with the confidence of an artist fully stepping into her moment.
A celebration of stages played, collaborators met and chances taken, ‘IAM’ feels like a victory lap before the race even begins. If her upcoming FĒI EP hits like this, she’s about to level up – fast.
ixaras – WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN’T
ixaras leans into bold ambition on WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN’T, an EP that swerves between punk grit and pop catharsis. It’s an unfiltered dive into identity, fear, ambition and self-made confidence.
Focus track ‘CAUGHT UP’ hits hardest, anthemic, emotionally vaulted and full of restless urgency. ixaras sheds past versions of herself across these songs, emerging sharper and more self-defined. A fiery document of becoming.
Gena Stone – Screaming Loving
Gena Stone’s debut EP Screaming Loving is a tender but quietly rebellious arrival, five tracks of introspection, textured guitars and soft-focus indie-pop. Teaming with Ethan Reginato, she shapes songs that feel lived-in and self-assured, even when navigating doubt.
Focus track ‘Expectations’ flips heartbreak into a sly, satisfying refusal to settle. Smart, charming and full of warmth, this EP marks Gena as one of Sydney’s most promising new voices.
KYARNA – Lost Soul Love Letters
KYARNA’s debut EP Lost Soul Love Letters is a beautifully scorched document of grief, love and rebirth. Recorded with Matt Fell, the songs unfurl like diary pages, haunting tributes, gentle reckonings with Country, flickers of hope after deep loss.
From My Brother’s Name to the communal swell of The Fixer, KYARNA crafts widescreen folk that hits with cinematic weight. A powerful arrival from a songwriter unafraid of her own shadows.
Large Mirage – ‘MISS OKAY’
Fresh off AC/DC stadium dates, Large Mirage fire off ‘MISS OKAY’, a retro-charged blast of Motown bounce and 70s rock swagger. Classic riffs, bombastic grooves and Kolya Chan’s melodic flair collide into a track built for sweaty summer nights.
Beneath the shine sits a message of self-worth in the age of scrolling and self-comparison. A proper confidence booster disguised as a vintage-pop rocket.
Charley – ‘Limerence’
Charley ditches the sultry slow-burn of ‘Cherries’ and sprints headfirst into obsession on ‘Limerence’. Written in Sweden, the track thumps with a restless club heartbeat while Charley dissects the delusion and adrenaline of falling for a fantasy.
It’s pop at its most unhinged (in the best way) capturing that early-stage high where everything feels perfect right up until it doesn’t. A glossy, addictive hit.
Molly Rocket – ‘When He Walks Around’
Molly Rocket tear into ‘When He Walks Around’ with a 90s-grunge grin, channelling Hole’s Celebrity Skin era while stamping it with their own bright, punky spark. After supporting Grinspoon, the band sound more confident than ever, razor-sharp riffs, sticky hooks, and a rush of adrenaline capturing the thrill (and terror) of someone who shifts your whole gravity.
A standout for Aus Music Month, and a breakout moment for the band.
CLEWS – What’s Not To Love?
CLEWS’ debut album is a widescreen ode to love in all its messy, essential forms. Written across years of upheaval and literal distance, Lily and Grace’s blood-tight harmonies lead a collection steeped in cinematic indie-rock and emotional clarity. It’s tender, frustrated, hopeful, sometimes all at once.
A record that refuses cynicism, choosing connection even when the world gets sharp-edged. CLEWS have never sounded more assured.
Morgan Evans – ‘How To Make Gravy’
Morgan Evans takes on Paul Kelly’s sacred Christmas classic and, impressively, doesn’t fumble it. His version of ‘How To Make Gravy’ is warm, dusted with country soul and delivered with the weight of someone who’s lived far from home.
Evans keeps the emotional spine intact – Joe’s regret, longing and fractured hope – while giving the song a modern, Nashville-leaning glow. A respectful, deeply felt update of an Aussie institution.
Chloe Styler – ‘Placeholder’
Chloe Styler trades bright pop optimism for raw vulnerability on ‘Placeholder’, a slow-burning heartbreak track that hits like a confession written at 2am. Acoustic strums, gliding guitars and mandolin lift her tender vocal as she sifts through the pain of being someone’s backup plan.
The chorus, quietly defiant, lands with gut-punch precision. Styler’s evolution continues: more honest, more open, and more compelling with every release.
Harry Foxton – ‘Time and Time’
Harry Foxton strips things back on ‘Time and Time’, a gentle piece of indie-Americana reflecting on bad habits and the effort it takes to confront them. Produced by Dylan Ollivierre with ghostly pedal steel from City & Colour’s Matt Kelly, the track feels both fragile and grounded.
Foxton’s voice, steady and sincere, guides a song about reckoning with your own patterns and choosing growth anyway.
Leah Senior – ‘People Pleaser’
Leah Senior returns with ‘People Pleaser’, a quietly radiant slice of folk that blossoms into a droning, Velvet Underground-tinged swirl. Written during an Adrianne Lenker workshop, the track feels both intimate and instinctive, an encouragement to tune out the noise and return to your inner world.
Senior’s voice, soft but piercing, carries the song like a whispered truth. A beautifully restrained evolution from one of Australia’s finest songwriters.
Nathan Zahra – ‘We Shouldn’t’
Nathan Zahra dives headfirst into pop-rock chaos on ‘We Shouldn’t’, a late-night anthem dripping with nostalgia, adrenaline and regret. Self-written and produced, the track leans into punk edges and rap inflections without losing its pop heartbeat.
It’s the soundtrack to messy nights you can’t fully remember but never forget, the kind that shape you whether you like it or not. A sharp, energetic return from an artist doing it all himself.
