nights on the town, the new album from acclaimed Australian band royalchord, is already being hailed as a minor masterpiece. It's the most impressive outcome yet of the inspired and intuitive musical relationship between royalchord's founders, Tammy Haider and Eliza Hiscox. Eliza and Tammy are both highly imaginative and gifted songwriters who share lead vocal and guitar duties and weave together songs and stories of great emotive power, atmosphere and beauty. Their touring band is renowned for its dynamics and musicianship and features Rae Howell (trumpet, melaphone), Andrew Bencina (percussion), Andrew Papadopoulous (double bass), and Alastair Barden (drums).

royalchord sound quite unlike any other music of this time & place, although there are echoes of their defining musical influences (country, tex-mex, indie rock, spaghetti western soundtracks) and nods to their record-collection idols (Scud Mountain Boys, Calexico, Smog, the Breeders, Hank Williams), and the Go-Betweens' biographer, David Nichols, paid them the grand compliment: "if I had to nominate a scintillating, melodic, adventurous band with two very distinctive complementary songwriters and a magic attitude to arrangements and a dedication to quality - you know, the Go-Betweens of the nowies - royalchord would be it." However, descriptions such as these can never capture the reality and magic of royalchord's music. It's something which simply has to be experienced, and is then never forgotten.

nights on the town is royalchord's second full-length studio album, following their debut I Gave You A Mountain and last year's acclaimed EP for Cavalier, hug the shadows. The album was produced by royalchord and luminary of the Melbourne music underground, Simon Grounds, at his Dollhouse studios, with guest vocalists Jordan Speering (Treetops), Henry Wagons (Wagons), Anthony Paine (Hired Guns), and musicians Joel Bloom (lap steel guitar), Digby Holmes (cello), Ben Butcher (supernatural vocals) and former royalchord member Liz Turner on drums.