ALONE IN THE DARK.

This band is like a pot of synth gold at the end of the pop rainbow. Gypsy & The Cat are Xavier Bacash and Lionel Towers, two chill bros from Melborne, Oz creating some of the best new soft-pop sounds around. Within the first few seconds of “Jona Vark” I pretty much had a flashforward to singing this chorus at a bus stop in five years time, because This. Song. Sticks. It’s just swimming in a hazy soup of reverbed Fleetwood Mac vocals, acoustic guitars and smooth blasts of synth, and you know how we love a bit of synth. We’re a sucker for the whole blissed-out pop aesthetic Australia seems to have mastered with the likes of Empire of the Sun, Gotye, PNAU and Tim & Jean so when these guys hit our peripherals we were eager to hear more, but as they're still yet to put out an official release, we’ll just have to keep this on single repeat in the meantime.

MP3: "Jona Vark" - Gypsy & The Cat

SEARCHING FOR THE THRILL OF IT.

We're quite late to the party it seems, but as you've already read everywhere else, Empire of the Sun (Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele of PNAU and the Sleepy Jackson, respectively) have gone and put together one of the finest singles (and videos) of the year. That laid back late-summer groove, those persistent drums, that chorus (that chorus)... This is breezy pop perfection ideally suited for just about any situation. Going out, coming down, breaking up, making out, making babies, all of the above? Here's your jam.

MP3: "Walking on a Dream" - Empire of the Sun

// Josh Logue //