The eco-friendly Jeremy Loops kicks off his tour in just under two weeks and he was so psyched to reach our sandy shores that he’s thrown together a list of his favourite Aussie tunes. There’s 13 in total, a sunny mix of feel-good tunes that will make you wish summer was already here.
Even though Jeremy Loops isn’t Australian, you could mistake him for one of us. The acoustic environmentalist is a big fan of our scene, and he’s managed to pick 13 favourite tunes.
Chet Faker – Cigarettes & Loneliness
Motheo Moleko, who plays in my band, introduced me to this. We were roadtripping and he had pulled together a really cool playlist which included this track. I wasn’t that familiar with Chet Faker’s music at that stage, outside of Gold and that Blackstreet cover, so this was a really cool entry point.
Xavier Rudd – Better People
I’ve loved Xavier Rudd for years, and long before I was making music, I remember always listening to this when I was working out at sea. Cool story – we got to connect when he was in South Africa and we actually sang this song to a group of kids at a school we were at while planting trees with my organisation Greenpop.
Xavier Rudd – Energy Song
When we started our tree planting organisation Greenpop, and we were working through our design philosophy while we built the website, I used to always think about the album cover for Food in the Belly, which is where Energy Song was taken off of.
The cover was these two symmetrical fruit trees, and when we were conceptualising Greenpop, that was one of the goals, you know? To feed people. Energy Song was my favourite song off that album and still holds a special place in my heart.
The Cat Empire – The Car Song
There are so many Cat Empire songs we grew up on, but this has always stayed with me. I’ve been listening to it for what feels like 10 years straight, always coming back to it. All I think is college and surf and weekends with my friends listening to this. The vocal delivery on it is borderline folk-y, which makes it particularly charming.
The Cat Empire – Panama
The opening lyrics to this are effortlessly charming.
I was in a plane to Panama
And a fly landed on her thigh
And though I brushed it off quite brashly
I introduced myself
And she said her name was Sky
I don’t recommend brushing flies brashly off stranger’s thighs, though. Life doesn’t always imitate music, and that’s borderline creepy.
The Temper Trap – Love Lost
That music video! All time classic from The Temper Trap! I like the song in and of itself, but that video really sent it over the edge for me.
Flume – Drop The Game (ft. Chet Faker)
I had heard about Flume a lot, and because I was checking out Chet Faker (sorry, Nick Murphy) at the time, I heard they had done some work together. There’s something about this song and its groove and its drop. And that hook is pop gold.
This is definitely an outsider on this playlist, but it would be a disservice to leave it out.
Boy & Bear – Milk and Sticks
I saw this music video before I had heard the song. I remember thinking, oh, this is going to go somewhere interesting, and then I heard that groove change Boy & Bear do at the 37 second mark, and I was like ‘oh, okay!’ It’s such clever songwriting – high risk but in this case, high reward.
Boy & Bear – Golden Jubilee
This song’s got such a great hook, and the lyrics
‘We were old enough to see
That the gods were spinning roses
Down from golden jubilee
I do believe that something’s happening to me
Always stayed with me. Killer chorus too.
Angus & Julia Stone – All This Love (Spotify Session)
What I like about Angus & Julia Stone is how, when you strip them down to just the core – them playing their instruments and singing – the sincerity of their music is still there. The original version of this song is great, but the scaled back Spotify Session is particularly special.
John Butler Trio – Daniella
When I began playing the harmonica, I’d listen to a bunch of different songs for ideas on how to use harmonicas effectively in a song. This was one of them. The way John Butler Trio did in Daniella still, to this day, is so dope.
You know what’s crazy about this record is that there are parts where he’s almost rapping and it sounds so dope. Still a mainstay in my playlist.
Silverchair – Freak
This Silverchair song probably doesn’t belong in this playlist – it’s that different from everything else and it’s so old I imagine a fair portion of the audience won’t know it, but I just remember this song always getting blared at parties when we were growing up.
There was a time my group of friends and I were really into punk music, and though this isn’t ‘punk’, it was always around.
Crowded House – Fall at Your Feet
This song is 25 years old, and if it came out tomorrow, it would still be amazing. I’m big of new music for sure, but there’s nothing like an all time classic. If even just 10 of your readers discover Crowded House based on my recommendation, my work here is done.
Jeremy Loops’ tour kicks off on Sunday November 27th at the Howler in Melbourne.
See the full run of tour dates below, and get your tickets here.
Sun November 27 – The Howler, Melbourne
Tuesday November 29 – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney
Wed November 30 – Wooly Mammoth, Brisbane
Fri December 2 – Amplifier, Perth
