Julia Jacklin – Body

For fans of: Lana Del Rey, Julee Cruise, Cat Power

Body is brooding and dark in a way that invites non-musical comparisons: the slow dance of a couple in a poorly lit speakeasy, a secret kept hidden for generations, films that flicker and leave questions unanswered, a young romance that isn’t good for either party. There’s a naked photo taken in the throes of love; a cigarette lit in the bathroom of a plane; police, consequences, a break-up. Jacklin herself describes the plodding song as “a very long and exaggerated sigh”, and it’s true – by the end all you want to do is breathe in again.

For more: Julia Jacklin is now touring the US with First Aid Kit, before playing Adelaide and Perth festivals in 2019

Hatchie – Adored

For fans of: Chapterhouse, Slowdive, the Cranberries

The Brisbane musician Harriette Pilbeam creates lush, dreamy music that recalls the dream pop of the Cocteau Twins, while managing to sound like fellow Australian acts birthed in the late 80s: the Clouds and the Hummingbirds jump to mind. “Don’t wanna be adored, I want more,” she sings, rejecting the sentiments of jangle pioneers the Stone Roses while piloting swaying keyboards that sound like My Bloody Valentine’s Soon. Despite the easy sonic comparisons, it’s Pilbeam’s laconic, sweet vocals and ear for a captivating melody that sets her apart from the wash of similarly swoony songsmiths.

For more: Hatchie’s Sugar and Spice EP is out through Ivy League; she is playing Spilt Milk festival, Falls festival and Golden Plains

Parcels – Withorwithout

For fans of: Hot Pink, Ariel Pink, The Eurythmics

A warm wash of electro entices you on to the dancefloor, only to kind of bop around, feet firmly planted, head nodding approvingly. The Byron-born and Berlin-based band have collaborated with Daft Punk and made their US TV debut, and they’re blowing up internationally with good reason: this song could slot onto any BBC playlist, and the band could play any Pitchfork-endorsed festival. The main hook is so slight that you’ll be surprised to find it repeating in your head for hours afterwards. That’s the sign of a great earworm, it gets in there without bashing its way through your cranium. A lovely warm wash of a tune.

For more: Parcels are playing their way through Europe before an Australian east coast tour in January

Lalka – CTRL ALTer ego

For fans of: Why!, MIA, the Internet

It’s a sure sign of how quickly trends present then collapse these days when a song that sounds like the type of thing you’d have listened to while updating your Tumblr and arguing about the correct way to pronounce “gif” suddenly seems positively nostalgic. Sliding from floaty sung vocals to frenetic rap verses, Lalka’s music might sound purposefully stuck in the iPod era, but there is more than enough Lorde and Charli XCX in there to appeal to those for whom 2010 was another digital age entirely.

For more: Lalka plays the Lansdowne in Sydney on 14 November as part of the Electronic Music Conference.

San Cisco – When I Dream

For fans of: Oh Mercy, the Go-Betweens, the Hummingbirds

It’s Saturday morning, and both the work week and your dreary home town are in the rearview mirror as you drive off to a beachside adventure. This song is the perfect soundtrack: a buoyant, bouncy tune that affixes a searingly confessional lyric to a bright, jangling backing track. San Cisco have been writing effortless, radio-ready tunes for years now, but this is a new high from one of Australia’s best bands. It’s in and out in just over three minutes, and even fades out like the radio hits of old; like a beachside weekend, it’s over far too soon.

For more: This is San Cisco’s first new track since their 2017 album The Water

Sophie Lowe – Taught You How to Feel

For fans of: Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, Kate Miller-Heidke

Sophie Lowe may be best known for her starring role in the TV series The Slap, but this delicate masterwork may see the balance shifted as her musical chops come to the fore. Never in a hurry to stake a claim, this is pure mood music: both broken and resilient. As strings swell in under the chorus and her vocal lifts ever-so-slightly before dropping back into the void, it is clear we are dealing with a master of restraint. The mantra-like second verse is pure songwriting perfection, and the song evaporates shortly after, like a half-remembered dream.

For more: Check out the video clip directed by the Harry Potter actor Bonnie Wright – or Lowe’s 2017 EP Trust

Pond – Sixteen Days

For fans of: Neon Indian, Parliament, INXS

Pond are often pegged as the jammier, less-focused version of the band they often share members with, Tame Impala. Where Kevin Parker’s opuses are meticulously stitched together over a laptop, a pile of vintage gear and stacks of sonic reference books, Pond records seem formed from baked jams between hits from a Gatorbeug bong. This comparison is reductive though, as Pond have birthed their own weird and wonderful beast over the course of seven albums. Sixteen Days is a sidestep of sorts: the tune flirts with 70s funk, 80s synth pop and 90s industrial metal, while the three-minute running time suggests a level of editing absent from their past excursions. It’s as if INXS went on a trip into the woods.

For more: Pond are playing Jungle Love festival, Fairgrounds festival, Meredith festival and Festival of the Sun. Sixteen Days will appear on their eighth album, out in autumn 2019

Emerson Snowe – If I Die, Then I Die

For fans of: the Sleepy Jackson, John and Yoko, Montero

This is a technicoloured lullaby, the type of lush torch song that would have been at home on the easy listening radio stations in the 70s that played songs more lyrically hard-hitting than “yeah, baby baby”. Emerson Snowe is actually the Brisbane songwriter Jarrod Mahon, who is stepping out from the Britpop-hugging Brissie band the Creases to present something more widescreen. This is a classic pop single; it’s no wonder he won over crowds in the UK earlier this year, and the local industry at BigSound in September. Psychedelic and familiar, this is like a warm bath in epsom salts and acid tabs.

For more: Emerson Snowe is touring Australia with Didirri

Middle Kids – Salt Eyes

For fans of: the Magic Numbers, Pretenders, Arcade Fire

With a successful debut album under their belts, and Ryan Adams and Paul Kelly both tapping this young Sydney band for supports over the past few years, you’d be forgiven for thinking Middle Kids were on top of the world. Not so, assuming you take this song’s lyrics as read. Pointless parties, empty evenings, all the folly of youth that seems as though it’s leading somewhere until you realise you just coasted through it all, bored and missing something vital you can’t pinpoint. This is another in a great run of catchy rock singles from Middle Kids, more proof they are one of the brightest lights in the musical universe at the moment. “You’re never mean, but you’re never that kind,” their singer, Hannah Joy, bemoans, and we all know the type of lover she’s talking about. Distant, uninterested, not in love.

For more: Middle Kids are touring the UK through November and the US through December, before playing Laneway festival this February

Joyride – On the Level

For fans of: Antony and the Johnsons, Cat Power, Nick Cave

A slow-burning piano ballad, On the Level is something different for Joyride, who made his name DJing sweaty club nights and collaborating with Aussie hip-hop artists. Here he strips things down to their base elements: a tinkling piano, and a sombre, low-pitched vocal. The lyrics act as a kiss-off of sorts to the DJ scene, presenting the emptiness of chasing adoration from faceless crowds, jumping from club to club in the AM hours – each faddish night more tired than the last. Sarah Corry joins the track at the eleventh hour with some amusingly straight-faced profanity; a fitting coda for a tightly wound track.

For more: Joyride’s new album Sunrise Chaser is out on 9 November through Dew Process