Sep 14, 2025
Sep 11, 2025
Sep 10, 2025
The Cords • 2025
WHEN YOU SAY GOODBYE is a heart-rending pop song: it’s deeper, heavier and more immersive that the first two singles, but somehow it’s just as catchy. Grace and Eve Tedeschi may be young, but this is the sound of a band who are already totally accomplished at writing pop classics.
Their first show was with The Vaselines, and since then they have played with Camera Obscura, Belle and Sebastian, BMX Bandits and others, while also sharing stages with the new generation of indiepop stars: the Umbrellas, Chime School, Lightheaded.
Sep 9, 2025
ifitbeyourwill S06E02 • Robert Forster
Ever wonder what keeps a songwriter creating fresh music after four decades? Robert Forster, the legendary co-founder of The Go-Betweens, takes us on a fascinating journey through his musical evolution—from meeting Grant McLennan at Queensland University to recording his latest solo album "Strawberries" with Swedish musicians.
The conversation unfolds like a masterclass in creative persistence. Forster reveals how The Ramones' debut album gave him the confidence to write his first songs, declaring "if they could do it, I could do it"—while artists like Bowie felt too intimidating with their virtuosic musicians. He candidly shares his struggle with the fundamental songwriter's dilemma: how to create something new when there are only so many chords. His solution involves constant experimentation—inverting chords, using capos, exploring different positions on the fretboard—and the patience to play for months until something genuinely fresh emerges.
Most surprisingly, Forster opens up about nearly abandoning music twice when faced with two-year creative droughts. What kept him going? Simply the joy of creation and, later in life, diversifying his creative outlets through music journalism and writing. This multifaceted approach actually revitalized his songwriting, removing the pressure and allowing new perspectives to emerge. The result is what he considers his most consistent body of solo work over the past decade.
"Strawberries," his latest album recorded with members of Peter Bjorn and John, represents this artistic renaissance. Forster speaks about it with rare satisfaction, suggesting he'd be content not to record for several years because "I don't know how I'm going to top that." Beyond music, he shares exciting news about completing his first novel, set for publication in Australia next year.
Want to witness the magic that happens when an Australian indie legend joins forces with Swedish pop sensibilities? Catch Robert Forster on his European tour this September-October, where he'll be performing with the same musicians who brought "Strawberries" to life.
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The subtext, of course, is awful. Forster – like anyone who has watched parents die and loved ones suffer – knows that the worst is never over. However, Strawberries concludes that raging against the dying of the light is a mug’s game; the only sensible response to mortality and pain is to live (and love) harder. Some of the stylistic choices here may give regular listeners “the shits”, but Forster is quite possibly beyond worrying about what people think about him now. His debut novel is in the works; he is writing some of the best songs of his life. That delicious fruit won’t be fresh forever, enjoy the sweetness now. mojo
Field Medic • surrender instead • 2025
On “the journey to the center of nothing,” the closer of Field Medic’s eighth studio album, surrender instead, Kevin Patrick Sullivan starts singing about me. Not literally me—but when he gets to the line about “some journalist in Flatbush/Who’ll write the headline that’ll give you the push,” my instinct is to respond that the coffee shop where I’m drafting this review is technically in Crown Heights and that this probably isn’t the one he’s been waiting for. PF
Sep 4, 2025
Robert Forster • Stockholm 24: The Making of Strawberries • 2025
“Picture one of our greatest living singer-songwriters in a kitchen. He is on holidays, he’s just had a swim. His wife is out on the beach, and he finds himself faced with a bowl of irresistible strawberries. They’re meant to be shared, of course, but their taste is “out of the ordinary,” so he just can’t help himself. Minutes later all of the delicious fruit is gone, but there’s the germ of a song as the phrase “Someone ate all the strawberries” has popped into Robert Forster’s mind, sounding “so weird, but normal.” Thankfully, he has his guitar with him. tinni
Sep 3, 2025
ifitbeyourwill S06E01 • Oh, Rose
Olivia Rose of Oh, Rose opens Season 6 with a candid conversation about musical origins, creative evolution, and embracing life's next chapters. From her early days in Asheville, North Carolina, where her friend's mother taught her guitar at age twelve, to becoming the frontwoman of a respected indie band, Olivia's journey reveals the deep connections between personal experience and artistic expression.
Music flows naturally for Olivia, who recalls waking up as a child with songs already formed in her mind. "I will just start, a song will just come to my head, I can sing about anything that I'm doing at any given moment," she explains. This instinctive approach to songwriting has matured over time, as she translates personal moments into universal themes that resonate with listeners. Her process often begins with a thought or phrase that strikes her as particularly true, developing into fully-formed compositions that sometimes reveal their deeper meanings long after they're written.
The conversation takes a meaningful turn as Olivia, expecting her first child in September, reflects on how motherhood will influence her creative path. Rather than viewing this transition with trepidation, she approaches it with curiosity and openness. Drawing fascinating parallels between the chaos of touring life and the unpredictability of parenthood, she shares advice from a bandmate who recently became a father: "I think you're going to be surprised at how equipped you are for this and how much being in a band and this strange form of chaos that we have chosen over the years is actually going to come in handy."
Olivia's recently released EP "For Art" stands as both a creative milestone and a musical gift for her unborn child, who has been present for the creation of these songs. Though she plans to take a well-deserved break from performing, she assures us that her musical journey continues: "As long as I am writing and playing and recording music, O Rose will continue to exist and evolve." Her story reminds us that art, like life, thrives through transformation and growth.
Exploring themes of long-term commitment and partnership—both in romantic and platonic relationships, as well as to artistic practice itself—the six tracks on 'For Art' navigate the complexities of closeness. Wading through feelings of disillusionment, the album is ultimately a hopeful work, one of recommitment and perseverance.
Sep 2, 2025
FROG • BITTEN BY MY LOVE VAR. XI • 2025
“In late August of ’25, a peculiar man known only as THE COUNT began to appear at various locales throughout the New York metropolitan area, drinking heavily and raving about various offscreen women. He was tall, skinny, but muscular in a way that only comes from manual labor, and he wore J. Crew slacks with a wife-beater. If you were in his presence, even if only for a moment, you could feel the power that hid behind his dark eyes, eyes that would stare out at you like deep oceans of hazel and blue, beckoning. He was intensely aware of the presence of every woman within a 2-square-block radius and made a lasting impression on all of them that they didn’t completely understand. He was like a black hole that curved all of space, where the trajectory of every object that passed near him wavered and became blurry. He was the kind of man, in short, that you could stare at for ages, if only he wouldn’t stare back. But the Count always stared back.
Tiberius • Felt • 2025
Following the more frantic Emo Rock sounds of the "Sag" and "Felt" singles, the rustic warmth of "Moab" sees Tiberius embrace their Country and Folk influences, while still flirting with Pop melodies and an Indie Rock crunch.
Tiberius was originally a solo outing for songwriter Brendan Wright (they/them), with the project growing to a four-piece band upon Wright's relocation to Boston. As demonstrated on "Moab," this expanded lineup produces a catchy and cacophonous sound that blends Indie Punk, Alt Country and Psychedelia with confessional, conversational lyrics.
Named after the city in the sprawling Colorado Plateau desert, "Moab" has long been a live favorite, and now offers our third preview of 'Troubadour,' a unique, genre-bending LP that's bursting with ideas and ambition. Alt Country-esque songs like "Moab" meet the Midwest Emo of "Sag," the meathead Shoegaze Rock of "Redwood," the Psych-ballad sound of "Barn," and the downtempo ache of October 10th's "Painting of a Tree" single.
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