As far as banner years for Australian pop go, 2014 was a corker. That is to say, not necessarily a banner year for the quality of our chart-baiting musical output but for its chart performance overseas.
This, the eternal mark of success for Australian pop artists, and something that drives many to distraction in their efforts to crack the US – witness Guy Sebastian’s drab eighth album Madness, the latest in a long line of records designed to trick American ears into thinking the performer is “one of them”.
In truth, overseas listeners aren’t so easily tricked, but there were plenty of opportunities for Australia’s more tunefully gifted countrypeople to earn their stripes as pop cultural ambassadors and top-40 diplomats.
5 Seconds Of Summer – 5SOS to those in the know – had the quickest of all Antipodean ascendancies, conquering the UK charts faster than you could say “One Direction”. Are they a punk boyband? A punk band who’ve read The Manual? A pan-Commonwealth government conspiracy?
Whatever the case, it’s unlikely the group spent much time doubting their own credibility in between counting their takings. As Kerrang! editor James McMahon put it: “I’m sure that when they’re riding around on the back of a unicorn, they’re not going to be thinking: ‘I wish we’d taken the punk route to success.’”
Hitching a ride on 5SOS’s spoils were those prodigal daughters, the Veronicas, who returned from a nearly six-year studio hiatus with their self-titled third album and supported 5SOS on the US leg of their Rock Out With Your Socks Out mega-tour. (Perhaps in an effort to subvert the gobsmackingly naff tour name, Jessica and Lisa Origliasso wore matching latex fetish dresses on stage).
The undisputed queen of Australian pop in 2014, whether or not you care for her rhymes, was the self-styled rap princess Iggy Azalea. I-g-g-y made her mark on the US charts in June, claiming a crown formerly held by the Beatles by occupying the No 1 and 2 spots on the Billboard hot 100, while people back home wondered whether the former Mullumbimby hippy was a trailblazer or national embarrassment.
Make no mistake, though: for all her “murda bizness” posturing, Iggy is a pop artist. Guardian Australia’s Rob Boffard put it bluntly: “Her pop-raps bear zero resemblance to the type of music being made by Australian rappers in 2014.”
Nipping at Azalea’s Steve Madden heels was Sia Furler, whose 1000 Forms Of Fear debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 album charts, capping off a triumphant return for the singer-songwriter, after some time in the wilderness and slipping behind the scenes to write hits for Beyoncé and Rihanna. Both artists led the local charge when it came time for Grammy award nominations: the pair will go head-to-head for record of the year when the ceremony rolls around in February 2015.
This all begs the question: has Australian pop finally arrived on the world’s stage? It took Kylie Minogue years of aural pavement pounding before Grammy and US chart gold materialised, and even then, came courtesy of her more cerebral dance stylings (2004’s Come into my World, from Fever) than her expressly pop material.
Locally – that is, in the case of artists not necessarily or primarily concerned with chart gold – Australian pop was kicking plenty of home goals, with highlights including Andras & Oscar’s gorgeous Cafe Romantica, Chet Faker’s soulful Built On Glass, Megan Washington’s There There and Bertie Blackman’s The Dash, the latter doing its best to bring back the righteous saxophone solo. These are, ironically enough, the albums and singles that should be the chart-conquerors.
The big microphone in the northern sky remains a tantalising prospect for many though, and at the 2014 awards more than a handful of Aussie artists pointed to cracking the US market as their big hope for 2015. With Sia, Iggy and 5SOS leading the charge, it might be the year that Australian pop beats its own personal best.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion