Suffering Jukebox

This morning's episode features an interview with experimental sound artist Claire Rousay, who returns to our shores next week and will perform at The Institute of Modern Art as part of Mono61, alongside Peter Knight. Find out more about Claire Rousay (and purchase her music) here: https://clairerousay.bandcamp.com/

Nick's Pick of the Week is Freya's Yamabiko, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://freyadrone.bandcamp.com/album/yamabiko and my review can be read below.

Freya: Yamabiko (Self-Released)

Released July 3rd 2026

Freya is comprised of Casey Johnson and Amy Sargeant and they describe themselves as, “… a drone metal / experimental sound art duo which translates the climate of violence faced by trans women in Australia into vibrations, textures and layers of feedback through improvised performance.” Yamabiko is their debut release, a live recording of a performance at Black Bear Lodge in Meanjin/Brisbane in May 2026.

Yamabiko contains five tracks, but really, the record is a continuous, improvised piece that has been divided up for ease of reference. Comparisons to the work of Sunn0))) are indicative of what listeners can expect from Yamabiko, however, despite the similarities, this no rip-off or mere amplifier worship, Freya are their own beast and what they do, they do well. This an album for fans of long, drawn out guitar drones, walls of sound and screeching feedback —noise heads, in particular, will feel right at home with Yamabiko.

Guitar drones may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but those with a taste for it could do far worse than check out Freya. Live, they are surely a force to be reckoned with, so, if volume is your thing, keep an eye out and mark your calendars for their next gig!

Nick Stephan