Hold onto your hats, music lovers! We have dropped a fire playlist featuring the absolute cream of the crop tracks from every artist set to slay the stage at our Needle In The Hay finalists party.
We’re just weeks away from Happy Mag’s 2022 Needle In The Hay finalists party, with the event promising to cap off what has been yet another captivating year for the annual music competition. Earlier this year, we revealed the finalists for the 2022 edition, sifting through thousands of entrants to unveil a 30-strong batch of stellar artists, songwriters and producers.
Taking the top spot among those finalists — which included the likes of The Lazy Eyes, Greta Stanley and Bread Club, among many others — was 23-year-old Beckah Amani, with Agung Mango and Euan Hart placing closely behind. Now, with another edition under our belt and with a stack of phenomenal music to boot, Happy Mag is throwing a celebratory party headlined by some of Needle In The Hay’s finest 2022 finalists.
Going down at Marly Bar in Newtown on April 28, the event is 100% free (you read that right), and will shine a spotlight on performers Boy Soda, Dead Witch, R.F. Coleman, The Sooks and Bandi. In anticipation for Happy Mag’s Needle In The Hay finalists party, we’re counting down our favourite tracks from each musician on the lineup. Check that out below, and head here for more info about the (we reiterate, free) event on April 28.
Boy Soda — Body
Lifted from Boy Soda’s latest project album YC-TAPE: Vol. 1, the simmering track Body pairs the Central Coast singer’s unmatched crooning vocals with a sauntering R&B beat. Soda yearns for more than a transactional relationship, with clever wordplay and rap cadences before an electric guitar outro. Earlier this year, Boy Soda stopped by Happy Studios to perform Body, describing the track as an “R&B slow jam.”
Dead Witch — La Niña
Despite the dreariness its title might suggest, Dead Witch’s La Niña is a breezy, alt-country jam with a flair for the psychedelic. The song served as the lead single for the Sydney band’s 2022 eponymous EP, and ruminates on the nation’s dwindling reaction to the 2019 bushfires. Be sure to catch the five-piece for a serving of country, indie, fuzz rock and everything in between.
R.F. Coleman — I Couldn’t Trust
Bound by a groovy bassline and spacey surrounding synths, R.F. Coleman’s 2022 single I Couldn’t Trust is as idiosyncratic as the musician behind it, with twinkling piano keys and doo-wop backing harmonies. I Couldn’t Trust served as the title track of Coleman’s debut EP, which arrived earlier this year. With plenty of musical talent and a history that includes being stabbed and poisoned, the spotlight will be all R.F. Coleman’s at the Needle In The Hay finalist party.
The Sooks — Lucy
In an interview with Happy Mag, Sydney band The Sooks said their 2022 single Lucy arose after “a lot of experimenting with new ideas and instrumentation,” with the result being a blissful dream-pop banger. The track is one of only three to be released by the alt-rockers so far, alongside fellow 2022 single Motley and the most recent Red Brick House. Check out Lucy ahead of The Sooks’ NITH set below.
Bandi — Ain’t Nobody
A vibrant burst of trap-pop, Bandi’s 2022 single Ain’t Nobody serves as a fusion of everything from Brazilian beats to a bubblegum hook and Latin lyrics. The single features on the tracklist of the Kiwi-Brazilian singer’s latest EP Bittersweet, where it is accompanied by her streaming smash hit WGMI – We Gon Make It.
