Dean Brady

This is where it begins for Dean. The Brisbane-born singer and songwriter’s debut single, 'Falling', it’s a gorgeous, elegantly wound R&B song, capturing all the heartbroken showmanship of the Motown era while nodding to the bass-heavy, off-kilter beats of modern producers like KAYTRANADA and Anderson .Paak.

Descended from the Gugu Yalanji and Birrigubba people and the Matabele Zimbabwean people, Brady was born into a musical household: his parents were both members of the legendary 'outback Motown' group Banawurun, and he grew up hearing their band practise and listening to his mother singing old soul songs. Performance, perhaps, is in his DNA – as a child, Brady would perform Michael Jackson songs for friends and family, obsessing over the pop icon’s moves and sound, and even at a young age was tracing a lineage of soul singers that, eventually, would all be woven into his own musical DNA: Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, Usher.

Written and produced with Jerome Farah and Jacob Farah, 'Falling' is a unique beast as far as debut singles go – it’s wonderfully fleet-footed while still being nakedly emotional, the song’s spine is its hip-hop influence, the sinewy bassline and rattling beats that take this from pure revivalism into an entirely new realm. This, ultimately, is at the core of Brady’s music: it’s maximalist and unbothered all at once, tapping into a multi-generational vision of classic music that feels fresh, vibrant and above all, fun.