Babylon

It‘s customary for an artist on the promo trail to talk up (or big note) how progressive their new album is. But in the two years since Clockwork floored the hip-hop world, Phrase —aka Melbourne MC Harley Webster —has completely ripped up his past by the roots. Babylon, his third album, throws down the gauntlet to any musician feeling hemmed in by a scene and longing to paint a bigger picture.

Accustomed to dropping his rhymes over loops and breaks, this time around Harley did way with all samples and penned songs from scratch on guitar. He found himself leaning to the raw, desperate delivery of Australian garage rock and British mod, and so enlisted a producer, Tony Buchen, with a similar aesthetic, to take the demos to the next level.

The result is a soulful, edgy album that‘s screaming to be heard with full live band. First single 'Apart‘, sets the stage for Babylon. A garage stomper with rockabilly guitar twists and a chorus sung by You Am I's Davey Lane, the track laments a chaotic, hungoverrelationship.