Australian Music Is Bloody Great: Laura Jean

Exposure is more important than ever and ironically harder to come by in today’s media landscape. Amrap – the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project - offers Australian musicians a pathway to airplay from the hundreds of community stations who have long championed Australian music of all stripes. a great network encouraging nearly 6,000,000 listeners each week to support Australian music. Go to amrap.org.au to get your music to thousands of presenters using the site each month to find new Australian music.

Amrap started a radio series in 2020 called Australian Music Is Bloody Great with Australian artists presenting their favourite recent Australian music. These shows are made available to all community radio stations across the country. Australian Music Is Bloody Great features a rotating roster of Aussie music faves presenting their handpicked selections with previous guests ranging from Dune Rats to Sampa The Great to Phil Jameison.

Pilerats are proud to team up with Amrap to keep you posted with the Australian Music Is Bloody Great series.

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This article originally appeared on amrap.org.au on February 6 2023

Written by Joshua Kreusler

Laura Jean has become highly revered for her exquisite and intimate songcraft. Her newest album, Amateurs, was released in late 2022 recalling her earlier folk stylings with a lush string section and pop mindset. Amateurs was recently announced as part of the 2022 Australian Music Prize shortlist. Touring soon, Laura Jean hosts our first Australian Music Is Bloody Great of 2023.

Hatchie - This Enchanted

I believe Hatchie is from Sydney [editor's note: Hatchie is from Brisbane] and she is currently travelling the world. I just love the way that this song channels 90s Australian pop like Deadstar and The Mavis's, but, it is also very original and sounds very up to date.

Miiesha - Damaged

This album is beautifully produced r 'n' b. It has a very strong sense of place despite the US influence. Her voice and writing is so assured.

Julia Jacklin - Lydia Wears A Cross

Julia's songwriting is just great. The themes that she writes of in this song a really relatable to me. They're similar themes that informed some of my new songs too. It is just so wonderful to hear other people's interpretations of these concepts like Catholicism. Julia's songwriting is so crafted and clever. It is very addictive to listen to.

Cool Sounds - Hello, Alright, You Got That?

This is just a stunning album. It's bold, it's risky, it's musical and very original. It is one of the best albums of the year. It has got an 80s energy with a kind of New York avant-garde pop or Melbourne 80s post pop like Essendon Airport.

Thelma Plum - When It Rains It Pours

This EP is beautifully produced. Reminds me of The Church with a bit of 70s and 90s adult contemporary. You can hear the producer and Thelma using this American mid-West pop energy to evoke the loneliness and beauty of the Brisbane suburbs - the hot streets walking around with a broken heart.

Way Dynamic - So Familiar

It stuns me that this quality of music is happening in Australia. We have limited outlets and audiences. I would just love amazing bands like this to be world famous. I think they perfectly capture that yacht rock energy but the catch is that you are sailing on Port Phillip Bay and it is just wonderful.