CHUTNEY is an Aussie world punk fusion band with a twist. Drawing on their Eastern European and Middle Eastern heritage, they play a spicy mix of originals, fresh takes on traditional klezmer dance tunes and klezmerified pop bangers. Led by clarinet and violin, plus keyboard, bass, percussion and drums – and guest singers – they cheekily hopscotch from folk to funk, jazz to tango, classical to pop, east to west.
Here are their top five artists, that we think you’ll love too…
- Cody Fry: Photograph – Live from Ocean Way Nashville, from album Pictures of Mountains
- I arrived late to the Fry party but have been obsessed since. He is a masterful and versatile songwriter, and this track has so much that I love about his style: sweeping, expressive melodies, lush harmonies, gorgeous lyrics, a simultaneous ease and vulnerability in his voice; and, in this version, the most sublime orchestration (which I believe he wrote himself!). Breathtaking.
- Muse: Butterflies and Hurricanes – Live at Wembley Stadium, from album Absolution
- I was even later to the Muse party, and I still haven’t gotten over the raw strength of their music. ‘Butterflies and Hurricanes’ is surely one of the greatest art rock songs ever – I listen to it every few weeks, to remind myself of how powerful music can be as much as to be empowered by it. Bellamy’s vocals are seductive but steely, the lyrics are electrifying, the harmonies are iron-clad. And then – as if this track needed anything more – the abject audacity required to just stop the song and break into a Rachmaninov concerto-esque piano cadenza. Goosebumps.
- Eden Golan: Hurricane
- Eden Golan is the young Israeli-Russian singer who took the world by storm at Eurovision in May. The song she sang – another song with a hurricane in its title – is the definitive power ballad. The melody is contagious, growing from a seedling in the verse to soaring flight in the chorus, and beyond. The lyrics are poetic and potent, and Golan’s voice is both soulful and searing. The most galvanising song and artist in my playlist right now.
- Manic Bloom: Running from the Scene, from Manic Bloom EP
- I’m willing to admit that my guilty pleasure, Texan sports/comedy group Dude Perfect, introduced me to this band. If you like Muse, Manic Bloom are definitely worth a listen. ‘Running from the Scene’ is another deep, dark, minor key banger with charismatic vocals supported by big piano playing. I dig the Bach-inspired countermelody (counterpoint) the band has layered into the final choruses, and I applaud the chutzpah required by an early 2000s rock band to include a nod like that.
- Ishay Ribo: Lashuv Habaita (‘To Return Home’, לשוב הביתה) from album Shetach Afor (‘Grey Area’, שטח אפור)
- Ishay Ribo is one of Israel’s biggest stars, and he writes and sings with a simplicity bordering on humility. This song is his biggest hit. From the first bar, there is a gentle but stable optimism, like a flame burning patiently, quietly, that always impels the corners of my mouth into a hopeful smile. The lyrics are essentially a Jewish version of P Diddy / Skylar Grey’s ‘I’m Coming Home’. Having attended his Sydney show, I can report that Ribo’s vocals are as pure live as they are on Spotify.
