It’s June already! Within the whirlwind last six months, local albums from the likes of Airling, The Smith Street Band, Ali Barter and San Cisco have got plenty of love — but so deep does Australia’s talent run that a number of incredible releases have flown under the radar.  Here, we present eight killer Aussie albums and EPs from the front half of 2017 that deserve your attention. Get listening.

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Biscotti — Like Heaven in the Movies

Genres exist because humans find comfort compartmentalising art — it’s easier to organise and understand that way. Biscotti’s Like Heaven in the Movies isn’t interested in being easily organised or understood. It’d rather you give in and let the ambiguity wash over. Carla Ori is the aueter behind Biscotti, mining genre and nostalgia in a ball of manic energy.

Trip-hop, funk, electronica, R&B and more percolate into a fascinating kaleidoscope of dance rhythms — think Santigold and Gorillaz, or maybe Ariel Pink without the baggage. A collab’ with photographer Alice Hutchison earlier in the year saw each track interpreted into a series of technicolour still life images. Like the songs they embody, the photos are striking, twee and oh-so fascinating.

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New Venusians — New Venusians

Fans of Hiatus Kaiyote, The Harpoons and The Internet will find plenty of comfort here.

The eponymous debut from Sydney soul septet New Venusians recall moments from each of the above, peppering them with celestial synths and thick atmospherics. There’s more than just a little bit of Eryka Badu to co-vocalist Meklit Kibret’s voice, floating fluidly over the polyrhythmic beats laid down by the rest of the band.

The J-Dilla-esque grooves of ‘Game Change’ and ‘I Wanna’ are guaranteed to get you dancing, while ‘Get Along’ evokes the aura and politics from Motown Chicago. The melodies are earworms, the ambience profuse.

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RVG — A Quality of Mercy

A Quality of Mercy has only been out a few months, but such has been the impact, it feels like much longer.

People have quickly taken to RGV’s gothic post-punk; layers of gorgeous, chorus-laden guitar and infectious vocal hooks consolidating to swell, immerse and consume. Frontwoman Romy Vager is a magnetising presence: her voice captivates, her lyrics reverberate in the brain long after listening.

Named after an episode of The Twilight Zone, A Quality of Mercy has, well, a quality of mercy about it. Songs are compassionate and empathetic. The title track, in which Vager imagines herself in the shoes of convicted drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran an hour before their 2015 execution in Bali, is a case in point.

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BOAT SHOW — Groundbreaking Masterpiece

A supergroup of sorts made of members from various local bands, Boat Show are a Perth quintet of “four girls and a token boy”. Their first longplayer Groundbreaking Masterpiece, imbued with chainsaw riffs and shrill cymbal crashes, is 22 minutes of awesome, exhilarating feminist punk.

“Cis white boy/cis white boy/I don’t care what you think you’re entitled to,” starts the chorus to ‘Cis White Boy’, a raucous song ripping into male privilege and the oft-misogynistic attitudes of those obliviously enjoying it. The track’s pure anarchy – loud, angry, political – and it acts as a neat microcosm for the rest of the album. Groundbreaking Masterpiece doesn’t just rock the boat, it lights the captain on fire and tips it altogether.

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Baro — Just Problems You Need To Know EP

The spread of sounds on Melbourne rapper Baro’s latest is extensive. One moment Just Problems You Need To Know places you in an opulent jazz bar; the next, a grimy basement, floors lined with roadside furniture and empty beer bottles. But the most important takeaway really, is that it’s one killer hip-hop release.

‘wdubi’ takes its cues from Chance The Rapper and his Savemoney crew‘s bouncy jazz/trap amalgams. Rhymes on ‘June in Japan’ bubble over a psychedelic beat Flying Lotus would be proud of, and ‘One Hour’ could’ve easily found a place on last year’s Knxwledge/Anderson.Paak collab Yes Lawd!. No matter the kind of hip-hop you’re into, there’s something here for you.

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Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever — The French Press EP

The Melbourne “tough-pop” quintet – guitar pop with punk sensibilities – might have the biggest international reputation of anyone on this list, such is their burgeoning profile.

Last year’s Talk Tight EP got serious love from SPIN, Stereogum and Pitchfork; the latter of which have again praised The French Press. Legendary US alt-rock label Sub Pop (Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Sleater Kinney) are big admirers, signing RBCF to their roster on the back of Talk Tight’s acclaim.

While memorable guitar melodies punctuate The French Press, it’s the driving basslines and motorik drums that’re key to the overall sound. It approximates what Real Estate might sound like bathing in the King Gizzard swamp: repetitive, head-nodding grooves- but not locked so tightly the music can’t meander if it wants. Go-Betweens fans will have plenty to like.

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Lonelyspeck — Lave EP

Spend enough time in the established creative hubs of Melbourne or Sydney, and there’s a good chance you’ll forget there’s an art scene outside our two biggest cities. Back in March, Adelaide electronic producer Sione Teumohenga — aka Lonelyspeck — gave those of us in the bubble a good reminder with his follow-up to 2014’s Presence.

Lave is bursting with panoramic soundscapes. There’s a James Blake and Frank Ocean quality to it all; emotive, crawling with pop hooks, maximal and minimal at the same time. Teumohenga’s voice is luminous, and to listen is a privilege. Even more impressive is that Lave’s manufacturing was a completely solo operation: Teumohenga recorded, mixed, played each instrument, and created the stunning cover art all themselves.

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Jade Imagine — What The Fuck Was I Thinking EP

Released on Milk! Records in April, What The Fuck Was I Thinking is a jangly six-track ode to personal growth. Jade McInally (Teeth & Tongue, Jess Ribeiro) is the driving force behind the project; her California-dreaming guitar pop recalling the sonics of Fleetwood Mac, The Dandy Warhols and label magnate, Courtney Barnett.

Despite hazy production and lyrical motifs of dreams and dreaming, make no mistake: this is an EP grounded in reality. It’s candid and observational, a portrait of a human being trying to be their best self. That, we can all relate to.

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Evan Young is a music and screen-obsessed writer living in Melbourne. He sporadically tweets from @thebevaneffect

Article image: Biscotti photo by Alice Hutchison, Baro photo by j.s.b