Having played a mammoth nine shows at SXSW to huge international buzz, Gold Coast artist San Mei unveils her new single ‘Something Good’, her first release with Australian indie label etcetc (home to artist like PNAU, George Maple and more). Produced alongside Oscar Dawson (Holy Holy, Alex Lahey, Ali Barter, British India), ‘Something Good’ is another step forward in the guitar heavy, delay-ridden, dreamy pop that is San Mei.
“I wrote Something Good when I had a sort of revelation about a situation in my life where I was fully taking things for granted and not recognising that I had something really special in front of me,” says San Mei, aka Emily Hamilton. “It's about the beauty of hindsight and hoping that I'd woken up in time to rescue this thing and let it grow into something beautiful.”
Straight off the back of a national theatre tour with ARIA Award-nominee Jack River, San Mei’s maiden headline tour around the country with the ‘Something Good’ tour kicks off in Adelaide on September 20, with Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney to follow, capping it off at Yours & Owl Festival in Wollongong and This That festival in Newcastle.
Sparking the interest of tastemakers around the world over the past couple of years, it was San Mei’s 2018 single ‘Wonder’ that broke through, quickly rising through the Hype Machine ranks to number one in 10 days and along the way being added to full rotation on triple j. This cemented her momentum in the top ten most played unsigned artists on triple j and catapulted her towards a spot on the coveted BIGSOUND festival, a stepping stone to export to the world for artists like Jack River, Middle Kids, Gang Of Youths, Stella Donnelly and Courtney Barnett.
San Mei’s next single ‘Heaven’ followed on in the footsteps of singles before it, hitting high-rotation on triple j, and broke through borders with a debut spin with Radio X's influential new music DJ Maz Tappuni. It went on to be a feature on BBC 1 Radio's ‘Next Wave’ with Jack Saunders.
The momentum of the year and its successes culminated in 'Heaven' becoming the soundtrack to San Mei's debut major festival appearance at the iconic Falls Festival, as well as her announcement on 2019's SXSW Line Up. San Mei went on to conquer SXSW stages with a mammoth nine shows in six days. This behemoth of a schedule sent industry buzzing, with Australian label etcetc thrilled to welcome San Mei to its roster.
San Mei | Black Bear Lodge | Brisbane
Line-up
Black Bear Lodge
Level 1, 322 Brunswick Street , Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia
Directions: Black Bear Lodge is a music venue in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley. It features two large levels, each with stages for live performances from national and international acts. The upper level also offers a bar and balcony area for more intimate shows. The whole venue has a cool rock-and-roll vibe, including graffiti-style art on the walls. With great sound and lighting, the atmosphere is always electric with a great selection of beers and wines to suit all tastes. Black Bear Lodge is the perfect place to relax, drink and take in a show.