Then Till Now: Bliss N Eso's 10 Best Songs

As Australian hip hop has evolved from a backyard novelty to an industry force over the last 25 years, Bliss N Eso have often found themselves at the centre of its progression from undesirable to undeniable. 

Their decades in the industry have brought with them four chart-topping albums, two ARIA Awards, five Top 40 singles and a stadium tour in support of Ed Sheeran. 

Even with all of that, the trio still aren't done – their ninth album, The Moon (The Dark Side), is just days away. So, what better time to reflect on the group's best musical moments from across the years, from their humble beginnings through to the present day?

This Is For You

It feels apropos to go back to the roots of Bliss N Eso and lift from their messy, inconsistent but entirely endearing debut album Flowers In The Pavement. 

The imagery of broken boomboxes and rusty mics in the lyrics of This is ForYou reflects perfectly on their early years as a group, still cultivating the following that would eventually land them national stardom. 

At this point, they're not even getting daytime triple j airplay. For now, it's a rejection of luxury and major label yes-men in favour of community and the love of the game.

Then Till Now

On this boom-bap throwback, the trio find themselves reflecting on their own personal journeys that got them to this moment in time. 

This thematic structure, admittedly, has been the crux of many BnE cuts over the last 20 years. None, however, come with the rawness and the heart-on-sleeve honesty that makes Then Till Now so endearing after all these years. 

Producer Weapon X comes in clutch here, flipping the late Renee Geyer's It's Been A Long Time into the kind of pristine chipmunk soul a young Kanye would have killed to spit a verse on.

Bullet And A Target

No longer centred on nostalgia and goofing off, Bullet And A Target can be considered one of Bliss N Eso's first actively conscious musical efforts. 

Linking up with a 20-piece African choir to rework a track by roots-rockers Citizen Cope, the song ambitiously takes a look at societal progression and the impact of war in a manner that's equal amounts pensive and passionate. 

Though it took the trio a little longer than most to leave the barbeque and join the protest march, Bullet And A Target confirms they made the right choice in doing so.

Woodstock 2008

Flying Colours, Bliss N Eso's third album, is their best by a considerable margin. It's the perfect blend of their good-natured humour and poignant politics – to the point where a track like Woodstock can perfectly coexist with a track like Bullet on the same album and both make canonical sense. 

Both Bliss and Eso are firing on all cylinders in their verses, tagging in and out on a stinging spy-guitar beat that sizzles under the summer sun. It then bounds into a chorus that blew out festival speakers for the rest of the decade.

The Sea Is Rising

A song bemoaning inaction on climate change in Australia, where conservatives buy into discriminatory distraction tactics and politicians in both Labor and Liberal seats are decreed “the same as the criminal”. 

Of all the songs in the Bliss N Eso canon, it really hurts to say that The Sea Is Rising has not aged a day. It would be a wonderful thought to consider these issues a concern of the past, but 17 years on it's still devastatingly relevant. 

As powerful as ever, there's an argument to be made for this being BnE's best song.

Eye Of The Storm

In one of their most unique flips, BnE retool an early Angus & Julia Stone favourite in Paper Aeroplane for one of their most reflective and thoughtful songs. 

Though both MCs have been certified party-starters since the beginning, it's always interesting to hear them take a moment to bring it down a notch to philosophise and pontificate. 

The Stone siblings likely never predicted being the soundtrack to a hip hop flow, but the song's jazz brushes make for a great rhyming pattern – and Storm's inclusion of their “gotta say mmm” hook is a perfect touch.

Addicted

Addicted has not left Bliss N Eso's live set since it arrived 15 years ago. It often closes out proceedings entirely, as it did on their recent Party On The Moon tour. 

What's made it stick? Simple, really: it's undeniable. The boundless energy, the rapid-fire delivery, the all-in chorus. It's not a cool or trendy song by any stretch of the imagination, but by that same token it isn't trying to be. 

Addicted is for racing down highways, bouncing as one on dancefloors and singing into hairbrush microphones. It's for you at your most uninhibited. 

Act Your Age

As festival staples and triple j favourites of a similar era, the idea of a Bliss N Eso and Bluejuice collaboration sounded good on paper. As luck would have it, the execution of it was even better. 

Switching up the style of one of Bluejuice's best-ever songs, Act Yr Age, the piano stabs are given a sharper edge with a bass-boosted beat for the rappers to go in nice and hard on. 

Bonus points for its wild music video, depicting a party Corey Worthington would be proud of – with a cameo from Bluejuice themselves.

I Am Somebody

Growing up in the ‘90s as students of hip hop, Bliss N Eso would listen to Illmatic and study it like a bible. There's no way they could have predicted that they'd end up not only meeting Nas, but making a track together. 

That full-circle accomplishment alone would be enough to get I Am Somebody on this list, but the song is also noteworthy for showcasing the group's sonic evolution into more widescreen production and ambitious, arena-sized choruses. 

Nas was no slouch on his verse either, ensuring this international hip hop link-up was one for the ages.

Chemical Heart (Geed Up)

As they recently told The Music, Grinspoon's Chemical Heart "immediately stuck out as hip hop” when Bliss N Eso first heard it back in 2002, 18 months into the group's lifespan. 

“Straight away, we thought it would be dope to flip,” said MC Bliss. “It was cooking on the backburner for a long time.” 

Over 20 years later, that backyard daydream finally came true. The Geed Up version of the song recently voted one of the hottest Australian songs ever is a fitting living testament to both acts. It's handily BnE's most lively, inspired song in years.

Bliss N Eso’s The Moon (The Dark Side) arrives on Friday, September 26th via Flight Deck/Mushroom Music. Pre-order and pre-save out the album here.