Spilt Milk Festival - MUSIC·FOOD·ART

Renowned for making tender hit songs from his hybrid of hip hop, rap and pop, and then laying it all out on stage, today Allday announces a mammoth national Starry Night Over The Phone album tour set for August. Joining in for all tour dates are great friend and collaborator Mallrat, singer-songwriter E^STand musician-on-the-rise JXN. The national dates will follow on from his anticipated return to the Splendour in the Grass stage where he will bring a rollcall of friends to help illuminate his upcoming third album. Hugely anticipated by fans and media alike, the album name has already been tattooed on one of his dedicated fans. The tour announce comes alongside the release of new track ‘Lungs’. A harder moment than the previous two tracks released ‘Wonder Drug’ and‘Protection’, ‘Lungs’ sits deep in the groove, with every lyric delivered over a rolling melody displaying the relaxed delivery that Allday is known for. It’s a song that you can hear trickling out of cars as they roll through the streets. It’s been a busy few years for the Adelaide-raised, now LA-based artist, his debut album Startup Cult came in at #3 on the ARIA Charts and it’s follow up Speeding landed a #6 debut plus an Air Award nomination. He has 3 Gold ARIA certifications for his singles ‘You Always Know the DJ’ and ‘In Motion’ ft. Japanese Wallpaper, and debut EP ‘Loners Are Cool’, and has accumulated over 80 million streams to date. A collaboration with long-time friend Mallrat on her hugely successful single ‘UFO’ has racked up over 14 million streams, and came in at #70 in the triple j Hottest 100 of 2018. From smashing his sets on festival stages including Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Groovin the Moo and This That, to selling out his massive headline tour dates around the country Allday has cemented himself as one of Australia’s most interesting young songwriters and in demand performers.

If you love driving fast with the windows rolled down playing top 40 radio at full volume and you play in a band, you usually have one goal: get your songs out of your garage and into the worlds’ collective car speakers as soon as humanly possible. Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, and Martin Doherty certainly fit this bill. They unabashedly adore music of the wind-in-your-hair variety. And, of course, they play in a band, the Scottish synth pop group, CHVRCHES. And yet … Since emerging in 2013 with the glistening brightness of their breakthrough single, “Recover,” CHVRCHES have always projected an insularity, a subtle but unmistakable wariness about leaning into their obvious Hit Song of the Summer-writing potential. At their core, CHVRCHES are true blue Glaswegian punks. They’ve wanted to protect themselves, and protect that undercurrent of melancholy that gives depth to their sunniness. To this end, the band members have always kept their creative process close and tight. They’ve been diligent to the max about managing the way their band is portrayed. And, of course, they have historically produced every piece of music themselves, including their 2013 debut, The Bones of What You Believe, and 2015 follow-up, Every Open Eye. “Certainly not,” was their go-to response, Martin recalls laughing, when asked to consider collaboration. “We knew that if you get led down the wrong path it can completely derail your career.” But if there’s a theme in CHVRCHES’ world as they prepare to release their third record, Love Is Dead, it’s willful, determined openness, both ideologically - more on that in a minute – and in terms of actual creative process. This time around, instead of Lauren disappearing for days at a time, the trio stayed in the same room even while Lauren was writing lyrics. As a result, the album “feels a lot more coherent,” she says. Lauren also consciously pulled from a different psychic well when writing those lyrics, one that's less introspective and more expansive and imagistic. “I tried to write less about romantic love specifically,” she says. “And more about the overarching concept of love.” And, for the first time ever, CHVRCHES opened their proverbial doors to outside influence. The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart served as the band’s de facto mentor, providing insight Lauren says “really pushed us to focus on the artistic integrity of the album and everything that surrounds it.” Steve Mac co-produced the soaring ode to hope, “Miracle.” And thanks to some extremely productive time spent in what Lauren calls his “Aladdin’s Cave,” Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia) wound up co-producing eight of the record’s twelve tracks. “We had similar musical tastes and we clicked in the writing process pretty quickly,” Kurstin recalls. “I got to pull out all of the things I don’t have a chance to normally use.” The result is the purest ever distillation of CHVRCHES’ signature pretty gloom. “It makes more sense than anything else we’ve made because it most accurately represents us,” says Martin. “We’ve always had this super difficult side to us – artistic and introspective and angry, but then we also fully embrace commercial music,” he continues. “When we talked about this album, before we even made it, we talked about it that way, we talked about there being two sides to the band. With Love Is Dead, we’ve broadened the appeal, but there are moments that are more difficult than anything we’ve ever done.” This conscious move towards openness in the creative process reflects a bigger, deeper existential theme as well. “We live in a time where the death of empathy is pretty evident,” Lauren explains. “You turn on the news and see story after story about how selfish and unkind people are, but also stories of strength and resilience and resistance. How do we deal with both those things?” That question, of how to honor our justifiable despair about the state of the world, while moving towards hope and love, mirrors CHVRCHES’ sonic blend of dualities. As Lauren exhorts in “ii”, the instrumental / spoken word intro to album closer “Wonderland”: Truth exists somewhere between the dark and the light It’s that quest for balance that runs throughout Love Is Dead. Lead single “Get Out” is a sprawling crescendo of heartbroken joy, and the album’s opening track, “Graffiti,” with it’s lilting syncopated backbeat follows suit. “Wrote our names along the bathroom walls, graffiti-ing our hearts across the stalls,” Lauren sings. “I’ve been waiting for my whole life to grow old and now we never will.” The song captures a sense of perspective on the passage of time. “Growing up and realizing things aren’t going to be the way you thought they would be,” the singer explains. “The feeling of Stand By Me, ‘I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, did you?’” Then there’s the slinky “Deliverance,” which personifies that classic CHVRCHES blend of punk ethos with a pure pop sound. “You don’t hear people singing on the radio about the hypocrisy of religion,” says Iain, “but that’s what’s exciting about it. We were thinking about Like a Prayer era Madonna, and Nick Cave, and Depeche Mode’s Songs of Faith and Devotion.” The band doesn’t consider their music expressly political, per se, but the urgent, brightly haunted “Graves,” with lyrics like “they’re leaving bodies in stairwells and washing up on the shore/you can look away while they’re dancing on our graves/if you don’t have a heart I can offer you mine,” feels abject and despairing yet joyful in a decidedly topical way. And on, “Miracle,” Mayberry questions “I feel like but I’m falling but I’m trying to fly, where does all the good go?” Speaking of politics, the dreamy “Heaven/Hell,” with lyrics like, “Is it right if I’m a perfect actress/Playing the princess in distress?/Is it alright if I save myself and/If I clean up my own mess?/Is it enough yet, ‘cause I’ve had enough?” gets at an issue CHVRCHES have been dealing with since their very first Twitter follower: what it’s like to be a rock band with a female frontperson. From the jump, Lauren has been outspoken about the vitriolic sexism and misogyny she was expected to tolerate merely because she’s a female human being singing on a stage. Hers is a perspective that has found much greater support in this last year, which is great, obviously. “I think it’s healthy that it’s in the mainstream,” Martin says, “of course, but she was getting fucking slaughtered five years ago, for saying stuff that’s now everywhere I look. Lauren stood up against this kind of behavior on day one.” And she paid a price. Unlike her bandmates, who, by the time CHVRCHES formed, had already logged a lot of years in other groups, Lauren’s entrée to the rock and roll life was more trial by fire. “I was 23 when I met Iain, 24 when we started this band and I’m thirty now,” she recalls. “I’ve had to grow up in front of people.” From the very beginning, “there was a lot of trepidation on my part,” she recalls. “As a woman in any industry but especially as a woman in the entertainment industry, I knew how people talk about you. How they perceive you. Even before the first record came out I could see all these monsters in the trees already. Some of those monsters turned out to be real. Some of them did not.” That’s a lot of what Love Is Dead is about: growing up, “coming to terms with the fact that there are great things in the world and there are awful things in the world and that you can’t get one without the other,” Lauren says. It’s that duality, again. “We’re fucked, the world is fucked,” Iain summarizes, with a smile. “But there’s an ellipses at the end. It’s Love Is Dead…. Like, how did we get to this point? And how do we move on from this point? It’s Love Is Dead, we’re fucked, what’s next?”

IF you're an Illy fan who's been impatiently waiting for his new material, you are not alone. "I've been getting really antsy," Illy admits. "This is the longest time I've been away. I was going nuts for a while..." The silence ends with Then What, the instantly addictive first taste of Illy's sixth studio album. ‘Then What’ was created with Swedish duo LIAS and Priest and Illy’s longterm collaborator M-Phazes "I had the idea for the chorus and the claps and I knew their pop sensibilities are on that Swedish level and they'd just get it," Illy says. "It came together in an hour and a half. M-Phazes added his parts later in Melbourne, those drums are undeniable. It's been a team effort." Then What's hook-upon-hook-upon-hook pop thrills make it the perfect comeback. There's no featured guest and no time to waste before you hear bass, tin drum and even a Shania Twain shout out. "After (previous album) Two Degrees I've learned to trust myself and my taste and my ability more, particularly with songs that are barely even hip hop songs. I've become more comfortable with that." Illy's career had been steadily building before Two Degrees in 2016, with a prolific run of albums and 2014's Top 20 double platinum single Tightrope. Things went stratospheric when single Papercuts (featuring vocals from Vera Blue) soared to No.2 on the ARIA charts, going 5 x platinum in 2015. Now a staple on mainstream radio, Two Degrees entered the ARIA albums chart at No.1. The follow up, Catch 22 (featuring UK singer Anne-Marie) was another hit, with the rapper more in- demand than ever on the touring circuit, playing theatres and festivals around the country. The Two Degrees Tour won an ARIA as Best Live Act in 2017, while Papercuts and Catch 22 saw Illy win back to back APRA awards as Best Urban Act in 2017 and 2018 respectively, voted by his industry peers. As well as writing the infectious melody, Illy penned Then What’s lyrics, which reflect on life after the success of Two Degrees. "The last album was the biggest thing in my career. You're put into more situations, you're meeting more people, it's all part of it, it's not a bad thing, but it's funny sometimes to stop and zoom out and realise what's going on. You know if you weren't in this position we wouldn't be having this conversation. I just wanted to write a funny song addressing the weirdness of it all. I've had friends who've had similar things happen on larger scales than me. It's just something that you notice - those cliches about people coming up to you when the times are good is true, it's not made up."

Illy’s time away from music has been strategic – he knew it how crucial the follow up to Two Degrees was to his career. He tested the waters with a guest slot on this year's Hilltop Hoods single Exit Sign ("that song plays to both our strengths") and feels Then What is the next logical step. "It takes the influence from Exit Sign and runs in a good direction. It brings people back to 'Hey I'm still an artist, still making music, here you go’. The rapper is in the process of culling the large number of songs written for his new album. "I don't think I'll ever go away again like this for the rest of my career. To be at this point and be making what I think is the best, most artistic music of my career is very fortunate. I've worked hard for it, but I'm aware I’m in a pretty rare spot. I don't intend on fucking it up."

Following the monumental success of his debut album American Teen (certified Gold in Australia), and being crowned the #1 artist on Spotify in the world, Khalid is gearing up to break new records with his sophomore effort, Free Spirit. In February, he gave fans a taste of what was to come by dropping lead single ‘Talk’, co-written with Disclosure, including their own remix of the song ‘Talk’ Disclosure VIP, adding to a stable of hits that’s truly staggering for an artist so young. Free Spirit also includes new tracks ‘Self’ and ‘My Bad’. The album features special guest John Mayer on the track ‘Outta My Head’.

From 7x Platinum ‘Young Dumb & Broke’ and 3x Platinum ‘Better’, to the stack of collabs with some of the world’s biggest artists, such as Normani on ‘Love Lies’ (5x Platinum), 6LACK and Ty Dolla $ign on ‘OTW’ (2x Platinum), Martin Garrix on ‘Ocean’ (2x Platinum), benny blanco and Halsey on ‘Eastside’, Shawn Mendes on ‘Youth’, Calvin Harris and Future on ‘Rollin’, Logic and Alessia Cara on ‘1-800-273-8255’, and close friend Billie Eilish on ‘lovely’, Khalid has truly become one of the most notable names in pop today.

The release of Free Spirit is accompanied by a companion short film directed by Emil Nava, which screened in cinemas for a limited 24 hour period and also allowed fans an exclusive chance to hear the record in full before its release. The film is creatively parallel to the album, adding visual elements to the music to tell stories of the beauty and the pain of Khalid’s childhood. Check out the film’s trailer here.

The last two years have seen Khalid take the industry by storm, quickly becoming a household name with his multiple chart-topping singles, internationally-acclaimed award nominations and wins, TV appearances, and brand campaigns. In 2017 Khalid won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, previously awarded to the likes of Justin Bieber, Fifth Harmony, Fetty Wap and more, and featured as the face of Forever 21’s Summer Digital Campaign, #F21xMusic, and Men’s Line. He went on to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and Good Morning America to name a few, as well as at SXSW 2017, where he won MTV’s Woodie to Watch Award.

Since then, Khalid’s success has continued to skyrocket, with major co-signs from the likes of Elton John and Kendrick Lamar. He has made his mark through a plethora of international chart-topping singles, so it’s no surprise that in 2018, Khalid was nominated for a whopping five Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, and also took out 4th place in the BBC Sound of 2018 poll.

Khalid is one of the defining artists of his generation, you don't want to miss his performance at Spilt Milk 2019.

They say there’s an innate bond between siblings, a relationship is forged that can last a lifetime. Now, take that intuitive understanding and translate it into music; magic can happen. Such is the case for brothers Louis and Oli Leimbach, better known as Lime Cordiale. Today, they are just months from releasing their long-awaited debut album, “Permanent Vacation”. But their relationship, connection through music and planet earth, stretches much farther back. Growing up within a creative, musical family on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, it was natural for the pair to make music together. “Not everyone is born from the genitals of parents that want you to have a life in the arts” says Oli. Lime Cordiale have played in the US at SXSW and CMJ, plus countless sold out shows and tours across Australia, supporting the likes of Sticky Fingers, Ball Park Music, The Rubens and most recently Bootleg Rascal. Though they haven’t forgot how it all began, Oli tells “many of our shows just feel like parties with our mates” and that theme has been ever-present as the band has developed over the years. Keeping the grass roots vibes strong, the band keep a strong dialogue with their audience on social media, “we seek advice, a bed, a hang out… all sorts of things” Oli continued. The boys note that most Australian’s (including themselves) aren’t afraid to say what they feel, and touching on their time in the States, they recalled a moment where they were kicked off the US University Circuit, Oli reflects “we got in trouble for singing ‘Bullshit Aside’ - I don’t know what the big deal is. Especially when Christian radio stations breathe bullshit full-time”. Lime Cordiale express their feelings that people need to break the rules in order to progress, with Oli stating “you don't have to take the conservative route. You don't need to necessarily plan out your life in your twenties or thirties” and with the band living in a dilapidated house in Sydney’s Inner-West, they’re focussed on their love of music and keeping Sydney’s music scene alive with the support of their surrounding communities and the Australian community as a whole. It’s no surprise that the pair are passionate, and overly sensitive to the effect humans have on Australia’s environment after being raised on an island home and in coastal areas while growing up. The band’s vegetarian lifestyle and plastic free rider may not be to everyone’s tastes, but their response is simply - “fuck ‘em”. Themes of conservation and sustainability are ever-present in Lime Cordiale’s music, and “Permanent Vacation” explores these issues. It’s quite a social album overall, and in addition to this, there are songs of personal anxieties and hard hitting relationships over the past few years and the usually introverted Louis best expresses himself through song to explain these experiences, ‘I only love you when you’re leaving’ a lyric from their single “Temper Temper” might best describe their love experiences of late. It’s not all doom and gloom with the Sydney based siblings, as they still manage to have a laugh at society and themselves, Louis explains “When we're writing together, we end up almost taking the piss. That's what we do together every day and so it ends up coming out in our songs” and you can hear it throughout the album on "Naturally", "What Is Growing Up", "Risky Love" and "Up In the Air”. Keeping things positive, the band admit the lovely ladies of Sydney grab their attention, but being on the road and constantly driving between cities on tour, the band have discovered the beauty of the great Australian landscape. Oli explains “It feels as though Australian’s are often looking overseas for inspiration but we really don’t have to look too far”. The pair recently returned from a drought relief event in Far North Queensland, with Oli noting “it was so isolated, so dry and so prehistoric. But just incredibly breathtaking”. Being blessed with beautiful surroundings and fellow Northern Beaches bands the likes of Ocean Alley, Winston Surfshirt and The Ruminaters, the band are not short of influences. Initially being drawn in by strong melodies and really strong grooves, both Oli and Louis enjoy delving a little deeper into “what’s behind a song and an artist, that really lets you explore the full experience”. Artist’s the likes of Rodriguez and Charles Bradley resonate with the Sydney-siders as “they’ve been struggling their whole life but never gave up on music” and though Lime Cordiale are not struggling in the same ways, the message holds true. In addition to the hectic schedule and life-band balance, Louis is an avid artist holding regular showcases, but notes that whether he is cutting lino or painting, this side of his life is kept secluded, “Lino cutting is a very time consuming art form, requires a lot of attention and I find myself doing it alone” says Louis. His art form though does cross over to band-life, with Louis designing all album art, posters and merchandise and states that the creative process can take time to think up ideas and sometimes his work can get so out of control he has to go into hiding, but he calls it “meditative and an escape” and likes the process itself over the end result. When they aren’t busy playing shows, cutting footage for films or designing some form of artwork, Oli and Louis return to their roots, the ocean. Though they love being close to the CBD, sometimes the inner-city pressure means they need to get back to the freedom that the ocean can give, Oli tells “you can be working in the dirt and grind of the city just behind you, but out there on the waves the world is yours”. Lime Cordiale plan to tour throughout the rest of the year, hoping to play all around Australia, and ultimately getting back out overseas – and the world is theirs.

Here’s how it often goes with Middle Kids. A song will come to Hannah Joy, usually by surprise, sometimes in the dead of night, almost always in private. With the house to herself, the singer-guitarist-songwriter will tinker with it, sketching her verses and loosely framing how they could fit within the music. Then, when she’s gone for the day, bassist Tim Fitz will see what she has done and add his own shape-shifting elements and figure out if they jibe with Joy’s ideas. By the time Harry Day is ready to polish his parts on drums, there’s still room for him to put his stamp on the work. “Even though Tim and I live together, and we’re married, the work flows usually more when the other person is gone,” Joy says. “Yeah, it’s not like we’re in the room together and say, ‘Hey, play that minor chord again, babe,’” Fitz says with a laugh. “We’re more like, ‘Get out! I’ve got some work to do.’” One listen to Lost Friends, Middle Kids critically acclaimed debut record and it’s clear that the rising Australian trio is aligned with each member’s own vision. Its 12 songs veer from brittle blasts of indie rock to elegiac piano ballads to pop anthems destined to ignite stadium singalongs. Lost Friends saw the band pick up the highly converted triple j ‘J Award’ for Album Of The Year in 2018, alongside a nomination for Best Rock Album at the ARIAs. The album includes the band’s debut single and biggest hit to date, ‘Edge Of Town’, which has amassed over 20 million streams on Spotify. Single ‘Mistake’, with its infectious chorus that could have been lifted straight out of a long-lost Fleetwood Mac album, landed in Triple J’s 2019 Hottest 100 at number 64. The album was launched with a sold-out headline performance at the Sydney Opera House, a rare feat for any band. Whilst Sydney, Australia is called home, Middle Kids has spent a large part of their time as a band touring internationally with great success. The band have appeared on many U.S. late night television shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Late Show with James Corden. They have toured internationally with the likes of Cold War Kids, Bloc Party and appeared at festivals such as The Governors Ball, Lollapalozza, Osheaga Festival and many more. Surprising many, the band showed no signs of slowing down with the recent release of two brand new singles, ‘Salt Eyes’ and ‘Real Thing’, and the announcement of a new EP due May 2019. Both singles have been widely supported by key radio stations across the globe and are yet another display of their knack for haunting hooks and lyrical poignancy that ooze irresistible indie rock appeal.

There are few tales more compelling than the rise of the enigmatic producer, artist and songwriter Running Touch. The elusive and multi-faceted creative has spent the best of the past few years fast cementing himself as not just an incredible musician and performer but forward-thinking visionary in every sense of the word. Through his music, live-show and identity (or lack of thereof) Running Touch has curated a multi-dimensional brand that gives a focus to storytelling through art, performance and music and sits in a realm that is matched by few. Born and raised in Melbourne, Running Touch’s music career starting at the age of 13 in what is to now to be known as Post-Hardcore outfit Ocean Grove, in which Running Touch remains the core-studio member to this day. Ocean Grove have since gone on to tour the world a number of times over, joining ranks with the likes of Limp Biscuit, Crossfaith, Northlane, Amity Affliction and more. With his Hardcore days still far from over, Running Touch took a liking to electronic music, starting a promising new project in 2015 and taking the leap from the world he knew, plunging to the unfamiliar depths of the Electronic scene to start the Running Touch journey. Since beginning this project, his career has moved in leaps and bounds, starting with a slew of awards in his debut year, being named the artist to watch for 2016 by inthemix, one of the most played artists on Triple J Unearthed, dubbed as ‘The Best Kept Secret in Australian Dance Music’ by Buzzfeed and had his breakout track ‘What’s Best For You’ listed as one of the Top Tracks of 2015 [inthemix]. In 2017, Running Touch released his debut EP ‘A Body Slow’, which immediately hit #1 on iTunes Electronic album charts and #9 overall. Fast forward a short time later and his steady rise to a global takeover is fast and apparent. Solidifying his talents as a producer, Running Touch has written with the likes of Sarah Aarons (The Middle, Zedd), Hayden James, GG Magree, Tensnake, and many more, as well as playing on almost every mainstage in Australia, touring nationally with the likes of ZHU, ODESZA, SAFIA and PNAU, touring across Europe and USA and selling out every headline tour to date. His live show stands as one of the most energetic and compelling performances in the electronic circuit - with dark and brooding twists that you could expect at none other than a hardcore show, imitating a full-scale production rather than just a one-man band alone. In 2018, Running Touch’s first release of the year ‘My Hands’ has seen him garnering attention from every corner of the globe, hitting the #1 most played track on Triple J for seven weeks running, putting him to the 4^th most played artist on the station. My Hands, was also added to a number of major playlists around the world including Apple Music’s A-list Electronic in 37 countries and twelve of Spotify’s largest editorial lists. The music video, directed, curated, filmed and edited by Running Touch himself, has since been added across the board to MTV, MTV Dance, Youtube’s ‘Electronic Hotlist’ (USA), and leaves no questions as to why the track was voted the ‘Sexiest Song of 2018’ by Triple J Listeners. The recent success of My Hands has since seen Running Touch pen a deal with ODESZA’s label Foreign Family Collective (USA) as well as sign with UTA for bookings across the USA and Europe. His follow up release, a collaboration with Hayden James, ‘Better Together’ saw him reach his first USA #1 on iTunes and was fast added across the board & on high rotation to every commercial station in the country, streaming at a rate of over 1 million a week and fast becoming the anthem of the summer in Australia, proving a crowd favourite at every show played and a hot contender for Triple J’s Hottest 100. As Running Touch continues to spread his vision and more fans take a liking to the weird and wonderful world of the Post-Modern Collective, it is no secret as to why people are calling Running Touch one of Australia’s most exciting talents.

Introducing Winston Surfshirt, the Sydney-based six-piece quickly winning over fans and industry alike with their unique blend of funk, soul and hip-hop - the auditory equivalent of A Tribe Called Quest splitting spliffs with your parent’s favourite band. Having developed a cult following off the back of their raucous live shows, the band originated as the solo project of singer/rapper/producer Winston Surfshirt before sequentially adopting other local artists and producers to form what is now a musical collective. With a lauded and unique versatility in their sound, Winston Surfshirt’s past performances range from sold out headline shows across national Australian tours, to festival billing at Splendour In The Grass, Spilt Milk, This That and Yours & Owls, support slots for Midnight Oil's comeback tour, underground warehouse gigs and block parties. The breakout act have come full speed towards 2018's tail end with new music, dropping brand new single For the Record out November 23rd on Sweat It Out. For The Record fuses Winston's buttery vocals with the mellow atmospherics of a dimly lit jazz bar, as crooning horns slice between the band's signature hip-hop laced production. Leading 2017 the band released their now gold-certified debut single, ’Be About You’ (#1 on Australian Spotify Viral Charts), followed by ‘Ali D’ and ’Same Same’, all of which earned full rotation on triple j, as well as nods and airtime from international tastemakers in the US and UK including Jason Bentley (KCRW), Huw Stephens & Phil Taggart (BBC Radio 1), Lauren Laverne (BBC Radio 6), and Beats 1 host Zane Lowe, who labelled the group ‘one of his breaking acts for 2017’. Sir Elton John has also professed his continual support for the group, airing all their singles on his Beats 1 program, Rocket Hour, as well as publicly labelling them his 'favourite band of the moment'. In July 2017 Winston Surfshirt played triple j's Like A Version, slowing down and adding a chorus of vocals to 50 Cent's 21 Questions. September saw the group release their debut album, Sponge Cake - a 16-track melange of summer sounds blurring the lines between funk and hip-hop, bound together with airy vocals and bold brass. Sponge Cake premiered as feature album on triple j and debuted at #1 on the iTunes R&B/Soul Charts, #2 on Apple Music Best Of The Week and #6 on the iTunes Album Charts. Since release Sponge Cake has had lauded reviews from Australia’s own, The Music, (4/5 stars), and German music site, Beatblogger, (4/5 stars), among a troop of others singing equal praise. Wrapping up their national Sponge Cake tour in November, selling out all 10 shows across the country, Winston Surfshirt signed off 2017 with slots at Falls Festival and Field Day, marking them as one of Australia’s most prolific upcoming acts.