Alternative/indie

"Our jam room looks over a sweet ass beach," Marlin's Dreaming frontman Semisi says, hinting at the origins of the sparkling, laid-back music he's been cooking up with his charismatic New Zealand bandmates.

Mixing bits and pieces of indie, psychedelic, and surf rock, Marlin's Dreaming is making the kind of music that's chilled-out and calming, while incorporating enough flashes of energy to keep you moving. True to the band's name, I imagine this stuff sounding the best after a nap on the beach.

Their debut single "Cheeky Kids" is an immediately enjoyable slice of summer-ready psychedelic pop that feels as fluid and unforced as its inception. "We sort of just jammed this one a lot over the summer before recording," Semisi explains. "Nothing fancy. Just jammed it ‘till it felt like it was at a vibey point."

​After meeting at a surf shop in Dunedin, New Zealand where Semisi worked for years, the group's founding members got to work on their debut album, Lizard Tears. And they got help from a couple industry veterans to shape their ideas into reality. Lizard Tears was produced by Justyn Pilbrow (The Neighbourhood) and mixed by Jeff Ellis (Frank Ocean, SWMRS, Kali Uchis).​

"It was really cool to work with humans that have achieved so much in their careers," Semisi says. "Definitely puts everything into perspective. We are just plankton in a big sea of big fishes."

What came out from the process was a consistently solid project from top-to-bottom, dotted with sneaky gems like the blissful one-two punch of "Danish Girl" and "Sally and the Tyre" waiting at the back half of the album.

Describing a thoroughly New Zealand experience as the ideal setting to hear this thing for the first time, Semisi says, "You just got home from a huge day of laying drains in South Dunedin, and you’re just ready for some feet up and a Speights (New Zealand beer). Jump onto Apple, Spotify, or whatever platform you listen to music on, and flick on Lizard Tears. It'll lift the spirits and also mellow you out."

Watch their new video for "Floating" below and continue for our email interview with singer/songwriter Semisi. Lizard Tears is available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify (or find it at the bottom of this page).

Four years (and one global pandemic) since the Australian Music Prize-longlisted “Guiding Light” (2017) elevated the band to new peaks of artistry, Ron S. Peno and The Superstitions return with their new album, “Do the Understanding”, a stunning record born from connection and perseverance

The Seven Ups are the soundtrack to the dancefloor at the end of the world.

Based in Melbourne, Australia and lead by guitarist Trent Sterling, The Seven Ups sound draws together a vast array of influences, taking hints from Funk, Spiritual Jazz, Afrobeat, Psychedelia and Krautrock

In 2023 the band released their fifth studio album, A Free Blowing Wind, via Northside Records. The new album is a deep dive in to the lesser-known-places of instrumental music, journeying from deep groove, to ambient and mellow Soul and onwards to long-playing psychedelic jams.

The Seven Ups music has been featured in Wax Poetics (USA), album of the week (thrice!) on PBS fm, Eastside fm and Beat magazine, top 10 on RRR, top 10 on KEXP (USA) and continues to receive airplay on BBC Radio, KEXP, Triple J, and community radio around the country.

The band has appeared at festivals including Meredith Music Festival (VIC), Womadelaide (SA), Blues on Broadbeach (QLD), Strawberry Fields (NSW), Luminate Festival (NZ) Rainbow Serpent (VIC), Falls Festival (VIC), Bleach Festival (QLD), Global Beats (WA), White Night (VIC), Moomba (VIC), Subsonic (NSW), Bello Winter Festival (NSW), St Kilda Festival (VIC) and more. Other career highlights for the band so far have included opening for Charles Bradley (USA), The Budos Band (USA), Remi (AUS), Babylon Circus (FRA) and The Bamboos (AUS), as well as a string of raucous residencies at Melbourne venues, frequent Australian east coast tours.

"I've been playing this little monster to death on my (BBC) 6 music show. It's raw, it's gritty, it's tough as nails." - Craig Charles, BBC Radio 2 & 6

“Makes us remember how much we can love instrumental music.” - Wax Poetics USA

"As tight as they need to be, and as loose as you want them to be." - DJ Miss Goldie, PBS fm

"Hugggeeee big band sound!!" - Rosie Beaton, Triple J

“The septet lay down super tight but silky instrumental funk that's rich in narrative and momentum.” - Juno Records, UK

“The Seven Ups are damn near one of the most mesmerising acts playing around Melbourne at the moment.” - Alex Callan Forte Magazine

“The diversity in their sound was downright impressive, moving from the horn driven funk of last year’s Drinking Water LP to the newer, overdriven psych rock guitar sounds. Though they set the stage up for the more famous psychedelic rock of Pond that followed, in my opinion The Seven Ups stole the show from the Perth four piece.” - Beat Magazine (on Meredith Music Festival 2018)