Adelaide’s best new music
We’ve rounded up Adelaide’s best new music released in September, including aleksiah, Nat Luna and The Empty Threats … read on for the low-down.
aleksiah – ‘Punch Drunk Love’
If there’s a recipe to momentarily pull yourself out of a depressive spiral, why not try 80s synths, colourful legwarmers and a Jane Fonda workout tape? aleksiah bundles the three in her latest uplifting single, ‘Punch Drunk Love’.
Singing of anxiously picking at her nails, twirling on her t-shirt and wanting “to feel like all the others do”, aleksiah’s lyrics cut to the core of being depressed in the club and trying to rally for your friends. Along with the mental health messaging, the song and accompanying music video spotlights a queer love story in what aleksiah described as “a love story that I would’ve loved to see when I was a baby bi struggling to understand how I felt”.
The upbeat track inspires you to break out of your blues without diminishing their depth. With evocative lyrics, self-deprecating humour, and feel-good 80s production, it’s a worthy follow-up to her 2025 EP Cry About It as she continues on the path to pop star status.
Eva Rundle – ‘Figure It Out’
Adelaide’s pop girls are out in full force this month, with Eva Rundle another singer-songwriter playing with the push-pull of deeper lyrics and ’80s synth pop. The track is reminiscent of Ava Max and Nikki Webster, as Eva blends sugary pop instrumentals with punchy staccato vocals calling for the listener to, as the title suggests, figure it out.
Eva says she wrote the track to be a self-insert for each listener, with lyrics like “Caught up in your glass house / Throwing stones / Getting old / I see you’re moving on” applicable to a variety of breakups, toxic friendships or pain you’re trying to move on from. She says it captures an internal fight to become a stronger version of herself.
Heartline – ‘Dead Batteries (feat. Joshua O’Donnell)’
Somewhere between Bring Me The Horizon and Pendulum sits Heartline: an Adelaide band making music that’s as ready for the club as it is for the pit.
Dead Batteries, featuring Joshua O’Donnell from “New Zealand heavy metal boy band” Banks Arcade, is an unrelenting punch in the guts.
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Its foundation is a drum and bass beat, centring the scremo track at a high-octane BPM. When the breakdown kicks in is where things get really exciting.
Catch Heartline on October 25 at Jive.
Jupiter Saloon – ‘Groove On’
Mixing blues rock with hard rock and heavy psych, this head-banging tune from self-described indie-soul act Jupiter Salon harks back to our favourite classic rock from the ’60s and ’70s.
The song begins with a simple yet effective piano riff by guitarist Nick Pipe before lead singer Eloise Addams launches into her powerhouse vocal performance.
“For me, the musical signature is the piano … I was inspired by the low piano riffs in ‘Stop’ by Duffy and ‘Think Twice’ by J Dilla, and I wanted to build a song on something like that,” says Nick.
The tune also features Conor Deery on drums, Matteo Grilli on bass, Jaime Willson on keys and Jordan Belperio on trumpet and trombone.
A highlight of ‘Groove On’ is the epic guitar solo at the 1.45 mark, which even Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page would be proud of.
Unlike a lot of the other songs included in CityMag’s best new music, this one isn’t about something deep and personal – it’s simply about having a good time.
“It isn’t that deep – it’s about that fuzzy feeling when everything is going right, the sun is beaming down on you … You’re set to have a great night with your best mates and get your groove on,” explains Eloise.
Nat Luna – ‘off my chest’
It’s safe to say we are Nat Luna megafans in the CityMag office.
Her vocals are stunning, intoxicating and syrupy. ‘off my chest’, the lead track of Nat’s new EP ultraviolet, is everything we love about the singer/songwriter.
She bounces between her gorgeous soprano into a playful rap with ease, making the beautifully-produced track an instant earworm.
Nat’s playing an Adelaide show on October 3 at Nexus Arts – don’t sleep on tickets.
Newgate crowd – ‘Nonsense’
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‘Nonsense’ by Barossa Valley based alternative rock trio Newgate is reminiscent of 2000s emo, with guitarist and vocalist Wil (Viddy) Vidovich having perfected the era’s sound.
As the band explains, the song is “a bold, guitar-driven anthem exploring themes of disillusionment, frustration, and the search for escape amidst modern chaos”.
This theme comes through in the chorus refrain, “What if we could run away and leave it all behind”, which the band says captures its mix of “urgency and raw emotion”.
A standout feature of ‘Nonsense’ is the fuzzy bass line, which hums along throughout the 3.51-minute-long song as other instruments weave their way in and out.
NORMAL BEHAVIOUR – ‘Famous’
‘Famous’ by Adelaide-based rock trio Normal Behaviour begins with a distinctive guitar riff that repeats throughout the song.
The song’s quieter moments allow Kam Henschke’s lead vocal performance to shine through, contrasting with the lively, indie pop-infused chorus.
“Famous!/I just wanna be/Alone among the leaves/The crowd is at their knees/And it’s so much fun to be/Famous!,” sings Kam in the chorus.
Also appearing on the track is Nick Hutton on drums and Lachy Williams, who is also a member of a cappella cover group The 60 Four, on bass.
The band describes ‘Famous’ as “a tongue-in-cheek, emotionally charged pop rock anthem about chasing success in music and the strange relationship artists have with fame”.
The Empty Threats – ‘bus stop’
Our pick from The Empty Threats’ new album happy birthday is ‘bus stop’, a gloomy post-punk tear-jerker that’s soundtracking our collective burnout.
While the track might not reach some of the hysterical highs the band is known for at its live shows, it still hits just right; twinkly guitars sob in the bottom of the mix (brilliantly produced by Matt Shultz we should add), while Grace Vandals gets a moment to shine as the lead vocalist on this single.
It’s a gorgeous moment in the middle of happy birthday – a 34 minute burst of brilliance from the rock group that’s well-and-truly made its mark on Australia at this point and a proud South Aussie export. Months and months of touring together have clearly worn off on the band which sounds tighter than ever on this latest record.
The Empty Threats released happy birthday on 12 September – its a must-listen.
The Tullamarines – ‘Gimme Luv’
The indie group veer into electro-pop territory on the lead single from their new EP Safety Blanket, and it suits them. It’s an energetic love song with undertones of surf-rock that sounds like it would soundtrack a lovesick montage in an indie film.
From the first second the track fizzes like soda in a bottle, being shaken up by the band until the lid is twisted off in a euphoric release in the last 45 seconds or so, with eclectic sonics and riffs creating a chaotic plea to ‘Gimme Luv’. The band says it’s currently their favourite song to play live “because of how out of hand it gets towards the end”.
To catch the catharsis live in Adelaide, the band are touring the EP with a stop at Lion Arts Factory on October 24.
