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For a band that hasn’t been around all that long, Cheap Date sure packs a mighty punch on their debut single Beside Me. The Brisbane based indie pop-rock act’s track is a heady mixture of sure-fire hooks, lyrical finesse, and pure pop grit. Led by artist Lara Dee on vocals and guitar and featuring Flynn Donaldson (lead guitar), Willow Giles (drums), Brian Butcher (keys) and Harry Shakespeare (bass), the Beside Me is an ode to high school heartbreak and the allure of hooking up with the wrong person, and an enticing exploration of emotional anxiety. Beside Me utilises a guitar-driven rock sensibility to underscore memorable melodies and dreamy textural layers—all performed with a startling level of confidence and raw power. But it’s not only the music that packs a wallop; the lyric reveals a much deeper layer to the band, as Lara explains, ‘One of the major messages in this music is the normalisation of feeling attraction toward men and woman. Beside Me is about a male and a heterosexual relationship; however, the music to come tells my story in more depth.’ That music is in the form of an EP, due out soon. As Lara says, ‘We have big things coming. We are releasing the second single (or the second episode). We plan to release the full EP (almost like a small book) at the end of the year.’ The track begins unassumingly, with only an acoustic guitar phrase and Lara’s relishable vocal, subdued and controlled. This combination plays out until the chorus, revealing the track’s melodic power before the potency of the rest of the band kicks in. Despite its overtly personal nature, the lyric transcends demographics, its message is as universal and candid. Cheap Date’s new release will undoubtedly garner unanimous praise and attract substantial streaming numbers. Beside Me is an open-hearted pop thrill, ushering in a new and vital creative force onto the Australian musical landscape.
