If it s a good song, Sweet Whirl can dance real fine to it. Previously a player in Melbourne duo Superstar and the beloved outfit Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Esther Edquist proves, with her solo project, that she is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter at the top of her game.
Sweet Whirl emerged in 2019 with a string of hotly watched releases, before dropping How Much Works, her debut album. Released through the thoughtful indie stalwarts at Chapter Music, it s a record that confidently carved out a space where beauty triumphs over bleakness and the personal becomes universal.
Tender but never precious, the songs on How Much Works are the love-addled confessions of a seasoned party girl, covering intimate emotional terrain and nodding to the influence of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Sheryl Crow.
UTR s 2020 Favourite Music Moments UTR Team and Contributors / Thursday 17th December, 2020 11:04AM
We ve nearly made it to the end of a year that even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as horrendous , but before we bounce from the office for some long-awaited summer fun, it s time to unveil our
2020 Music Moments. We invited contributors who ve generously leant their talents to the site over the past twelve months to share their reflections on an incomparable year.
Special thanks to everyone who contributed to our proudly independent music news and ticketing site in 2020 to
NZ On Air,
NZ Music Commission and
MusicHelps for their support in helping us bring you the best local music news during the wildest of times, to all the artists for producing such inspiring work, to the events organisers who gave us awesome live shows to look forward to, and thanks to you dear reader for making it all worthwhile! Dive in, explore and enjoy the selections
Albums of the year: How ten Australian artists created their 2020 releases
Words by August Billy
With our liberties curtailed, our listening choices took on extra weight in 2020.
Not only did we turn to music for entertainment and intrigue, but we also wanted it to transport us and provide much-needed company.
For musicians, it was an often uncomfortable and disorienting year. Live performance was prohibited and live streams could very easily become an alienating experience – it’s difficult to adapt to playing to an invisible crowd accentuated by flickering thumbs-up and heart emojis.
Releasing music also brought about novel challenges. After all, the act of self-promotion began to feel entirely incongruous in the midst of a global pandemic, a growing movement for Black rights and against the intensifying spectre of climate change.
2020 Top Ten List Spotlight: Brian Foss
Over the past weeks, we ve been spotlighting our
KEXP DJs Top Albums of 2020. Tune in on Friday, December 18th as KEXP counts down the Top 90.3 Albums of 2020, as voted on by our listeners! And check out more top albums from KEXP DJs here.
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