The Presets, The Preatures & More Have Begun Work On New Albums

We reckon 2015 was a pretty good year for Aussie music, with landmark releases from the likes of Courtney Barnett and Tame Impala and a swag of more under-the-radar releases that still managed to get plenty of plays in the Tone Deaf office, such as Gold Class’ It’s You.

So what’s on the cards for 2016? Well, it looks like it’s going to be another ripper year, with a string of releases from some old favourites who’ve recently been quiet on the recorded music front. Let’s start with The Preatures.

2014’s Blue Planet Eyes was jam-packed with radio-ready pop rock hits and made frontwoman Isabella Manfredi a star in her own right, but all fans want to know is when the follow-up is set to drop.

We can tell you that it’s soon, because the band recently took to Facebook to announce they’ve begun work on their sophomore release. Staying with the letter P, beloved local electronic duo The Presets recently let slip that they’ve been busy in the studio too.

Yesterday saw the ‘My People’ hit-makers announce a mini-festival they’ve got planned for the ANZAC Day long weekend, which they wrote is taking place because they’ve been going stir crazy in the studio working on their next full-length effort.

Considering the fact that the lineup for their Last Exit mini-festival is very techno-heavy and the pair are DJing at the event, that may be an indication that their next album is going to be an old-school, beat-heavy affair.

Karnivool revealed they’ve got an album coming out in similar fashion. The prog-metal outfit recently announced an intimate WA-only tour, during which they’ll be playing a few new tunes they’ve been working on.

According to a statement from the band, they’ve been hard at work on the follow-up to their gold-selling #1 album Asymmetry and they’d like to get out of the studio for a little bit to give the new songs a bit of a road test and see the sunshine again.

Speaking of Ian Kenny and his various projects, he must be a very busy man at the moment, because Birds of Tokyo have simultaneously been busy in the studio working on the follow-up to their 2013 album March Fires, which hit the top of the ARIA Albums Chart when it came out.

According to comments from the band back in February, their new album isn’t going to be as radio-friendly as their past work. “How would you all feel if we made what is likely to be the heaviest album of our career thus far?” they asked fans. “Too late, we’ve already done it.”

Lastly (though we’re certain there’s plenty more Aussie artists working on new stuff as we speak), Dan Sultan is the latest Australian muso to reveal via social media that he’s been hard at work in the studio, forging a follow-up to a successful album.

Sultan’s last release was 2014’s Blackbird, which reached No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart and spent 13 weeks in the Top 50. Sultan recently took to his official Facebook page to share a few snaps from day two of his new album recording sessions.

Oh, and let’s face it King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are probably working on a new album too.

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