BILLY DAVIS AND DENZEL CURRY ‘GOLDFISH’

Posted by: operativejp on August 2, 2017

Over the past 12 months, Billy Davis has been introducing himself to new fans with his fresh blend of hip-hop/RnB. With support from around the world – including the likes of Okayplayer, Pigeons and Planes, BBC1 and KCRW – he has stamped himself as a unique talent on the Australian musical landscape.

Today, he turns his attention toward the release of his new album A Family Portrait, and shares the records biggest collaboration ‘Goldfish’, which features acclaimed US-rapper Denzel Curry. The two met while Billy was on tour with Kimbra (playing keys in her live band), ‘I was actually playing the song on a piano in the house we were staying at and Denzel overheard it and asked about it. We clicked through the tour and I told him about the concept of the song and how it needed something on the bridge. They asked for the track and then went in on it’, Billy said of the chance pairing. The result is unexpected for fans of Curry’s intense style, with the rapper providing a boistrous verse over the top of Davis’ upbeat, effervescent production.

Of the track itself, Billy Davis states, ‘the biggest battle in the making of the album has been the battle against insecurity and people telling me I wasn’t good enough. The song is almost a message to my past and future self encouraging them. It’s one of my favourite on the album as it resonates a lot internally to me, it’s gotten me through hard times in the past but will also be something I look back on with fondness when I listen back to it in the future. This song is for the underdog that needs that little push – the goldfish can knock out the shark!

Billy Davis’ new album A Family Portrait will be out 1 September through Good Manners Records. Featuring standout singles ‘No Longer Lovers’ and ‘Ball and Chain’, the album delves into Davis and collaborator Tentendo’s incredible grasp of production which has grown quickly dramatically since their connection began. Enlisting a number of other Melbourne-based talented artists, as well as the considerable services of his band members, the Good Lords. The result is 14 tracks of positive, joyful hip-hop, marking Billy Davis as a breath of fresh air on the Australian music scene.

Billy Davis and his band the Good Lords are a musical juggernaut which features up to 11 members when playing live. Their style mirrors luminaries like Kaytranada and the Internet, with the band sharing the stage with the likes of Anderson Paak and Blackalicious, before appearing at this year’s Golden Plains Festival to exceptional reviews. Just announced, they will be making the trip up to Brisbane soon after the album release to appear at this year’s BIGSOUND Music Conference, which has unearthed stars like Flume, Courtney Barnett and RÜFÜS.

A sought-after session musician in his own right (also appearing as part of Kimbra’s live band), Billy Davis has spent the last couple of years immersing himself into the fruitful local neo-soul & hip-hop scene. Quickly assembling the Billy Davis project, the group’s first album Bad Ending was released independently last year to a burst of local fanfare. Now, the band are readying themselves to step into the spotlight with a second album quickly appearing on the horizon.

Billy Davis’ album A Family Portrait is out via Good Manners Records September 1,
— PRAISE FOR BILLY DAVIS —

‘Billy Davis is a mixture of The Internet, Anderson Paak and Kaytranada’
Okayplayer

‘Billy Davis knows how to polish soulful influence with modern technique’
Pigeons & Planes

‘producing a funkadelic hybrid of soul and hip-hop that is wholly of the here and now’
High Snobiety

‘Billy Davis is a hidden gem, the kind of funk, jazz, electronic and hip-hop is really unlike any combination of genres we’ve heard’
Hilly Dilly

‘Subtle and simmering, it is one of those songs that slowly creeps up on you’
the 405

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