EP Walkthrough: Hayley Mary dissects her remarkable second EP, The DripThe stunning collection of tracks solidifies the talents of the The Jezabels frontwoman, ahead of shows planned throughout the year.
Premiere: Melbourne's Big League share their second album, A Symbol Like A Cloud
After sharing their debut album I Thought Thunderbolt in 2017, the indie-rockers return with a second album just as brilliant.
Posted By Hayden Davies
3 years ago
It's been a big few years for Melbourne-based indie-rock group Big League, even if everything maybe hasn't gone their way. In 2017, the group - led by husband/wife duo Travis and Marie Velthoven - shared their debut album I Thought Thunderbolt to applause almost as rapturous as their album title, introducing themselves as a fresh-coming new addition to the city's already blossoming indie rock world. In saying that, it's not in recording where Big League are exactly the most well-recognised.
Over the last few years, Big League have built themselves a reputation as one of Melbourne's most electrifying and energetic live bands, capturing the charisma and presence of rock heavyweights - those that charge far more than $20 a ticket for gigs - through festival slots, headline shows and support runs since their debut. They've played SXSW and headline shows throughout the US right down to home-town returns, bringing new energies and textures to their sound as they convert it to the live stage.
Obviously, in the last 18 months, their live show has been a bit hit or miss. Just as Melbourne's live music space begins to re-open, it seems to shut down due to ongoing restrictions and new pandemic-pressured lockdowns - leaving acts like Big League unable to thrive how they're supposed to. In saying that, however, the band haven't wasted any time, finessing their second album A Symbol Like A Cloud and readying their return for the second half of 2021.
Alongside its release today, we're stoked to premiere A Symbol Like A Cloud in full, and what a record it is. It's an album that builds on the introduction they made four years ago, deepening their pop-rock sound while further solidifying the traits that make Big League such an exciting addition to Australia and musical output. It's an album that centres on the connection between Travis and Marie and how they're able to showcase that through their music, switching between male/female vocals as they duet and intertwine their vocals amongst one another, and the rich instrumentation that lays underneath.
It's in that instrumentation that Big League's sense of growth and evolution feels really present. Across the course of the album's 12 songs, the band dance in different pockets of indie-pop and rock, from the heavier and more punk-inspired rushes of the album's most energetic moments, right through to those a little more subtle and reflective, where their intertwining vocals take the lead and everything else falls where it needs to be.
A Symbol Like A Cloud is proof that Big League are worth the hype, and while their live shows have been paused for the moment as the east coast of Australia continues to battle new cases and the accompanying restrictions, A Symbol Like A Cloud brings a taste of what to expect when things are back on route once again.
Dive into the album below, as it arrives today:
EP Walkthrough: Hayley Mary dissects her remarkable second EP, The DripThe stunning collection of tracks solidifies the talents of the The Jezabels frontwoman, ahead of shows planned throughout the year.
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