Let’s face it.
No matter what music genre you’re devoted to, there’s nothing like a pop banger on a Friday afternoon. Even better if it’s a song by an act you’ve never heard of before. And if that is an independent artist who self-produces his music, I’m all ears.
jnr. is all these things. So this week, let me introduce you to this Sydney-based artist.
PART 167 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE
jnr. (pronounced “junior”) is Ben Siva, a multi-hyphenate alt-pop musician. He doesn’t give away much about himself in his bio. But the one thing I did take away from it is this sentence, “[I’m] writing my favourite songs”. If that’s the case, he can be proud of himself.
Since March 2022, he’s already dropped eight singles. Interestingly, even though you can hear jnr. in all of them, they show the many flavours of the Sydney/Eora artist. Some are classic pop hits (“u stay on my mind”), while others (“cruel feat. JËVA”) lean more towards nostalgic indie pop-rock.
And the latest single, “stay the night”, is a different thing altogether. I guess this is why he compares his sound to The 1975, No Rome and A.G. Cook. It’s quite a broad collection of influences, from art pop and rock to synth-pop and indietronica.
It looks like 2023 has been an exciting year for jnr. His music got some traction on triple j, FBi Radio, Spotify editorial playlists and online publications, including Gigwise and Backseat Mafia. Dave Ruby Howe from Unearthed said this while giving the latest single a 4-star review, “Been meaning to get better acquainted with jnr! Lotsa talk about him atm, and he backs it up with a brightly charged alt pop track.”
And I couldn’t agree more with that professional opinion. “stay the night”, released at the beginning of October 2023, is another catchy gem in the muso’s catalogue. But in this dynamic song, the rock guitar vibe is mixed perfectly with jnr.’s signature pop vocals.
The artist admits that in this particular case, he was experimenting with pop-punk – a genre formative for his youth. I’d even risk a statement there’s something very emo about this track. Especially when jnr. sings, “We’re dying just to feel more alive.”
Aside from being a prolific party banger writer, jnr. has also been gigging quite a bit recently around the Sydney area. He’s been supporting fellow pop acts: Chloe Dadd, PRETTY TALKS and harper. And judging by the footage from the shows, live performance is another of his strengths.
The muso promises to keep releasing new music for the remainder of the year and into 2024. His press release also ended with the mysterious, “It seems like only the beginning.” So I’ll definitely keep an eye out for new music and jnr.-related projects.
And because I’m here for all new faces in the Aussie music scene, I’d definitely “stay the night”. Would you?
Find out below.
Meet more emerging Aussie pop artists:
“We are so lucky to be a part of this country”. Sydney-based Tomboy pop/electronic artist HANDSOME on the queer community’s place in Australia. Interview
A few weeks ago, I was browsing through the New Music Friday AU/NZ playlist on Spotify when I came across a song called “Back To My Vice”. It drew me in right away, so I looked up the artist as well. It turns out HANDSOME has been making music with a message for quite some…
My Aussie Halloween pick 2022. Perth-based duo KLAUDE deals with being ghosted on the psych-pop single, “LMK”
Break-up is probably the no. 1 reason artists create. Songs about ending relationships come in all shapes and forms. After all, no genre or style is immune to love because, as humans, we are programmed to feel. So it might seem like everything has already been said on that topic. Yet, KLAUDE managed to craft…
6 reasons why Vigilantonie’s catchy depresso pop song “Cooked” got my attention
“Cold emailing a stranger to listen to an upbeat song I wrote about my depression is whack. But I keep writing witty hooks on sticky beats about mental health, so here we are”, read the two first sentences in an email that landed recently in my inbox. And that unpretentious, honest approach was already enough…
Silly McWiggles blog & podcast 