Sound Under Weekly Picks: 05 June 2026
Finding Perspective Through Music: Five Australian Tracks Worth Living With This Week
Every Friday, Sound Under curates the best of Australian alternative music: fresh releases, overlooked gems, rising artists, and songs worth spending real time with.
Whether you’re driving down the coast, walking through the city late at night, or simply tired of playlists chosen by algorithms, these picks are built differently. This isn’t about hype cycles or whatever is trending for 48 hours. It’s about music with replay value, personality, and something real inside it.
No artist is too early. No sound is too left-field, and no scene is too small.
Here’s this week’s Picks:
Are You Getting High — The Rubens
There is a good chance this is the grooviest song from this week’s picks. From the moment the rhythm kicks in, “Are You Getting High” feels warm, effortless, and strangely uplifting.
It is the kind of track that slides perfectly into a long walk, a road trip, or a sunny afternoon playlist. In fact, it has been on repeat for us lately during walks, and if you are not paying close attention to the lyrics, you could easily mistake it for a feel-good indie-rock anthem.
That is what makes the song so interesting.
Beneath the groove, the catchy hooks, and the laid-back energy sits a song about heartbreak, acceptance, and the uncomfortable reality of watching somebody move on before you have fully figured out how to do the same. Rather than approaching that feeling through sadness or bitterness, The Rubens wrap it inside one of the most infectious compositions they have released in recent memory.
The contrast works beautifully. The music feels light on its feet, but emotionally there is a lingering sense of uncertainty running throughout the track.
The Rubens have described the song as being about watching an ex move on and finding yourself caught somewhere between acceptance and heartbreak. You want to be happy for them, and maybe part of you is, but another part is still wrestling with the reality that they are no longer yours. That emotional tension sits at the heart of the song.
What we love most though is how easy The Rubens make all of this feel. “Are You Getting High” is a heartbreaker disguised as a groove-filled indie-rock track, and that tension between the music and the message is exactly why it works so well.
Too Close To The Sun — Foxblood
Foxblood are one of those bands that make you wonder how they managed to stay off your radar for so long. The Melbourne outfit have been active since 2016, releasing their debut project that same year, but after spending time with their latest album Patchwork & Standby, it becomes obvious that this is a band that have spent years refining their craft.
What immediately stands out about Foxblood is their ability to blend multiple genres and influences without ever sounding confused about who they are.
Tracks like “Occam’s Razor,” “Limerence,” and “Left For The Crows” have been on heavy rotation for us, but “Too Close To The Sun” might be one of the album’s most emotionally compelling moments.
The song feels centred around disillusionment, self-destruction, and the painful process of realising that somebody — or something — was never quite what you believed it to be.
The recurring reference to Icarus is particularly powerful. In Greek mythology, Icarus flew too close to the sun despite warnings not to, ultimately causing his downfall. Here, Foxblood use that imagery to explore the consequences of ignoring red flags, placing faith in the wrong people, and repeatedly walking into situations that you know might end badly.
Throughout the song, there is a constant tension between awareness and repetition. Lines like “Could she fool me a third time?” suggest somebody fully aware of the cycle they are trapped in, yet still unable to completely break free from it. The repeated question becomes less about the other person and more about the narrator confronting their own willingness to keep returning.
If Patchwork & Standby is your introduction to Foxblood like it was ours, “Too Close To The Sun” is a strong reminder that this is a band worth diving deeper into.
Melodrama — Joe Mungovan
Joe Mungovan has quietly built a reputation as one of Australia’s most uplifting singer-songwriters, blending folk, indie-pop, and feel-good songwriting into music that feels both thoughtful and effortlessly approachable. His songs often carry a sense of optimism without feeling naïve, and “Melodrama” might be one of the best examples of that balance.
In the current environment the world finds itself in, “Melodrama” feels like exactly the kind of song we need more of.
This has been our morning song lately. There is something about the warmth of the melody, the sense of movement, and the overall energy of the track that simply makes you feel grateful to wake up and experience another day.
What makes the song particularly powerful is how it contrasts life’s chaos with a surprisingly simple message. Throughout the track, Mungovan acknowledges the endless cycles we all seem trapped inside — relationships, mistakes, heartbreak, uncertainty, and the feeling of having to start over again and again. Yet instead of becoming cynical, the song chooses optimism.
Depending on your perspective, it can be read as frustration, resilience, acceptance, or all three at once. Life keeps throwing challenges at us, relationships remain complicated, and people continue making mistakes. Yet somehow we keep getting up every morning and doing it all over again.
Rarrandharr — Drifting Clouds
There are some songs that immediately paint a picture in your head before you’ve seen a music video, read the lyrics, or even looked up the band. “Rarrandharr” did exactly that for us. The first time we heard it, it felt like the soundtrack to a character wandering through a forgotten desert town somewhere between a Clint Eastwood film and a 1970s disco fever dream — dressed in the loudest outfit imaginable, dancing their way towards absolutely nowhere in particular.
More importantly though, this song is the perfect antidote to anyone who claims Australian music all sounds the same.
Drifting Clouds, who proudly describe themselves as “the most chill band in Arnhem Land,” bring something completely different to this week’s picks. There is a warmth, looseness, and sense of place running throughout “Rarrandharr” that makes it feel unlike anything else we’ve heard recently.
What makes the song particularly beautiful is the story behind it. While the Western world often talks about four seasons, Yolngu culture recognises six distinct seasons, each carrying its own environmental, cultural, and spiritual significance. Rarrandharr marks the hot, dry season, and this song reflects on its ending as the land prepares to move into a colder, wetter period.
Yet beneath the seasonal imagery sits something much deeper.
Written by Terry Guyula while touring in Melbourne, thousands of kilometres away from home, the song becomes a meditation on distance, memory, family, and the natural cycles that connect them all. The changing season mirrors the passing of time itself, while references to grandparents, parents, children, and loved ones who have passed away give the song an emotional weight that quietly unfolds beneath its joyful surface.
What we love most about “Rarrandharr” is that despite those themes, the song never feels heavy. Quite the opposite. There is an infectious sense of celebration running through it. The rhythms are playful, the energy is uplifting, and the whole thing feels like it exists to bring people together rather than pull them apart.
Sometimes music teaches you something new about the world. Sometimes it simply makes you smile. “Rarrandharr” somehow manages to do both at the same time.
Cold Shoulder — Liv Cartledge
Sometimes a song does not need huge production, complex arrangements, or grand concepts to leave an impression. Sometimes all it takes is a great voice, strong songwriting, and somebody who knows exactly how to deliver a line. “Cold Shoulder” is one of those songs.
This is the first time we have come across Liv Cartledge, and based on this track alone, we will definitely be exploring more of her catalogue.
What immediately stands out is her vocal performance. There is a natural confidence and emotional clarity to the way she sings that makes every line feel believable.
Thematically, “Cold Shoulder” feels like a song about reclaiming your sense of self after spending too long giving your energy to somebody who never quite deserved it. Throughout the track there is a lingering feeling of disappointment, but also a growing sense of independence. Rather than dwelling on heartbreak, Liv seems more interested in the moment where you finally realise somebody’s hold over you is beginning to fade.
For us, “Cold Shoulder” was one of those tracks that immediately made us curious about the artist behind it. And honestly, that might be the highest compliment we can give a song.
Every Friday, Sound Under spotlights the best alternative music beneath the surface.
Got a track we should hear?
Tag @soundunderau on Instagram or send us a DM.