Big Scary

The story of Big Scary begins in Melbourne, Australia, where duo Tom Iansek and Jo Syme, armed with just acoustic guitars and egg shakers, started playing songs together in the living room of Syme's parents' house, gradually working up to a bolder, more expansive sound. What began as a few rainy day acoustic ballads in their first incarnation soon grew, and before long, the newly named Big Scary were writing anything they pleased — fuzzed-out garage rock; piano-led pop; intricate, pastoral instrumentals — each imbued with an effortless pop sensibility and lightness of touch that would quickly see the duo attract a strong following in their home country, as well as the 2014 Australian Music Prize.

Recorded and produced by Big Scary's own Iansek, and mixed by Grammy Award-winner Tom Elmhirst (Hot Chip, Lily Allen, Adele, Black Keys, Amy Winehouse, The Kills), Not Art distills influences of indie rock song structure, pop and hip-hop production, and experimental ambient music — it's ambitious, featuring towering guitars paired with reverberating drumming that gives way on occasion to programmed electronics and home-recorded loops; cooing synths that gild Iansek's and Syme's startlingly diverse vocals; and, most of all, a unique musical vision that sounds unlike anything else happening right now in pop music.