Rolling Stone Australia October 2015

Grace Under Fire AFTER READING YOUR story on the making of Grace I dug it out after not hearing it for 10 or so years, and I have to say it sounds a little dated! Of course there are some classic tracks on there, but “Eternal Life” sounds a bit like Nineties jock rock. Just sayin’ . . . Kate Swann, Coffs Harbour, NSW THANKS SO MUCH FOR JEFF Apter’s story on Grace. There was so much detail there for a die-hard fan like myself. I never understood why so much of the album was cover versions until I read that he was discovered playing covers in coffee shops. It makes perfect sense that his debut should be a showcase for his perfect interpretations. Paul Weiss, Melbourne, Vic Suge Rush…

WRAP-UP LIVE LODGE 2015 ALL ACCESS PASS Our bespoke pop-up venue returns to Sydney this September for three huge weeks of live music. Catch up with daily wrap-ups and exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage, including galleries, interviews and live videos. WATCH BAD//DREEMS LIVE AT THE RS OFFICE The Aussie pub rock revivalists perform a stripped-back acoustic set at our Sydney office. WIN TICKETS MUMFORD & SONS LIVE Win a double pass to the band’s curated Stopover Festival at Sydney’s Domain, also featuring performances by Future Islands and Jake Bugg. EXCLUSIVE ABBEY ROAD INSTITUTE FIRST LOOK We chat to the founders of the iconic studio’s new educational initiative, which launches in Melbourne and Sydney later this year. LIST 100 GREATEST SONGWRITERS OF ALL TIME THE RS LIST From Brill Building tunesmiths to punk…

U2 and Bruce’s New York Serenade During their eight-show stand at Madison Square Garden, U2 brought out everyone from Jimmy Fallon to Lady Gaga to the Roots. But they saved the best surprise guest for their final show, when Bruce Springsteen joined the band for “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. “He gave us a reason to be a band,” Bono said. “Gave us a level we could never reach but always aspire to.” Also on hand (but not onstage) were Bill and Hillary Clinton. “Trying to figure out for the life of me why the Clintons are sitting in the nose nose nose bleed section,” tweeted Questlove, who was watching from the floor. MCCARTNEY SHAKES LOLLA For the encore of his headlining performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago,…

WHEN CHVRCHES came off the road la st November, bringing to an end the touring cycle for their 2013 debut The Bones Of What You Believe, they’d played 364 shows over two years. No wonder frontwoman Lauren Mayberry says they were “definitely ready to go off grid for a little bit”. By January, however, the creative juices were flowing and the Scottish trio gathered at Alucard Studios – the three-bedroom flat in Glasgow they converted into a studio, where they also recorded their debut – and set about writing the follow-up. Despite the fact The Bones Of What You Believe had propelled the band – also featuring Martin Doherty and Iain Cook – into the Top 20 in the UK, U.S. and Australia and established them as a bona fide…

FANS AND CRITICS EMBRACED the Snowdroppers’ punchy second album, Moving Out Of Eden, but according to lead singer Jeremy Davidson, recording and promoting the LP was a demoralising experience. “We didn’t know what we wanted it to sound like,” he says of the 2013 release. “Everything about that record was quite rushed. We just had to release something.” It had taken Davidson and co. several years to extricate themselves from a contract with the record label that released their first album, Too Late to Pray. That contract made it practically impossible for the Snowdroppers to earn revenue from their recorded music, according to the singer. By the time the band had signed with a new label, “we had kind of lost momentum”, he admits. The decision was made to record…

GARY CLARK JR.’S 2012 MAJOR- label debut, Blak and Blu, was one of the most acclaimed blues albums in recent memory. Recording in Los Angeles with pop and rock producers Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Fiona Apple) and Rob Cavallo (Green Day), the singer-guitarist fused classic influences like Willie Dixon and Albert King with a love for Nirvana and hip-hop, yanking traditional American music into the present. For his new album, The Story of Sonny Boy Slim, the 30-year-old Clark brought it all back home, recording in his native Austin in search of a more relaxed, familiar vibe. “I went in feeling vulnerable – I was very aware of the sophomore slump,” says Clark. “I really wanted to just come home and be in the studio, hang out and go back…