BaroHe may have only turned 18 earlier this year, but young south-east Melburnian rapper Baro is already making music with the maturity and weight of folks 10 years his senior, with his capable new EP 17/18 picking up not only a top-ten debut on this week's Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts, stepping out at #6, but walking away the highest new entry across the board.
(NB: The use of "EP" here is somewhat nebulous - the release is referred to as such by the artist, but is seven tracks strong [nine if you count the bonus inclusions], and clocks in at just under half an hour, which isn't an uncommon run time for releases billed as LPs these days. Still, it's Baro's chosen term, so we're rolling with it.)
It's a strong performance from a relatively unknown quantity, well outpacing established acts and fellow debutantes such as The Waifs, whose Up All Night brings up the rear of new entries at #11, as well as For All Eternity (Metanoia, #8) and Simon Gleeson (Elements, #9). The new entries force some old faces downward — Flight Facilities' Down To Earth drops a spot to #7 to make way for Baro, while San Cisco's Gracetown loses ground from #7 to #10 and #1 Dads' About Face suffers a similar fate, slipping from #8 to #12 — but the top five remain the top five, albeit reordered somewhat: the bracket all step up a place except for The Getaway Plan, who now sit at #5 from pole position last week. However, Sia's back on top with 1000 Forms Of Fear, followed closely by Hermitude (Dark Night, Sweet Light, #2), Seth Sentry (Strange New Past, #3) and Courtney Barnett (Sometimes I Sit & Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit).
In the singles stakes, Sia performs strongly again — both Elastic Heart and Big Girls Cry are up to fall back-to-back at #2 and #3, while Chandelier is back inside the top five — but there's no stopping Hermitude, whose The Buzz, featuring Mataya and Young Tapz, remains atop the pile for another week at #1.
