A word about 'Says'...

'Says’ is an independently-produced track from Melbourne-based musician Wayde Suchodolskiy, released under Wayde’s musical persona ‘Lunanaut’. The song (along with the rest of Lunanaut's work), gives ode to the vast amount of great music coming from self-made studios, independent artists and 'Soundclouds' everywhere. Within these social platforms are radio-ready, concert-rate, festival-class creative pieces that are as worthy of our attention as works by any 'big name', expensive, prominent act.

For a song that was “originally a sort of experiment” (in the words of Wayde), it is extremely well-formed and ridiculously catchy. The first time I heard the tune my feet were tapping and I was bopping involuntarily, and by the fourth or fifth time I played it on repeat I was singing the lyrics along with him.

The enjoyably fresh and bright melody is perfectly shaped by the modish rhythm of the guitar and grunt of the riff (played on a “Telecaster rip-off” guitar, through a Laney Linebacker transistor amp), with an Ibanez TS808 Tubescreamer for the distortion and a reverb pedal.
The melody is flawlessly complimented by the loose and jumpy back-beat of the drums.

The track is entirely more impressive when you discover it is wholly the creative handiwork of Wayde (as are all of his songs); writing the music and lyrics, playing the instruments, recording and producing the track himself. 
 
Wayde has played the drums for the past 9 years, and the guitar for approximately 4-5 years; explaining how he can solely produce each instrumental layer of a song. He has been creating his own tunes the likes of ‘Says’ since approximately 2012, and while he’s moderately satisfied with the work he has produced so far, he claims that he “is nowhere near where [he] want(s) to be.”
 
“I want be better at producing, but retain a Lo-fi simplistic ethos” he says, “so [the music] doesn't sound too produced”. This ‘low-fidelity’ nature, is an identifiable characteristic of Lunanaut’s work. The resultant rawness, in my opinion, is the endearing feature of “Says”, which booms a raspy and honest delivery, reminiscent of an underground 60s and 70s vibe (with the feel of the music overriding the need for perfect quality).
 
‘Says’ could be considered a 'soft punk/tough pop' tune... It's grungy, and youthfully bright at the same time. The style could be compared to artists such as the The Vaccines, with a natural-expression resembling that of Jake Bugg, and assertion of lyric delivery akin to Kasabian. In making ‘Says’, Wayde was inspired by artists such as Geese (an independent band from Brisbane), the Allah-Las (a rock band from Los Angeles, California) and, a fellow multi-instrumentalist, Ty Segall.

‘Says’ is a track which, for me, conjures the image of a drive to the country – cruising through green fields in a vintage convertible, with some good friends and the sun... I know if I am ever in that situation (though most-likely not including that exact car sample), I will definitely include ‘Says’ on the compulsory road-trip mixtape.

I can see Lunanaut’s music, and ‘Says’ specifically, easily supporting widespread accolade, and I am confident in believing it capable of pulling crowds at festivals in the near future, and deservedly so.