Stonefield - Bent (LP) - Red, Vinyl

Stonefield’s Bent lands with the sort of confidence that only comes from years of playing together in the same room, reading each other’s moves by instinct. The Findlay sisters from rural Victoria have been on a wild ride since taking out triple j Unearthed High back in 2010 and scoring that early Glastonbury slot the following year. By 2019 they were a seasoned live act, and Bent, released on Flightless Records, captures that maturity in a lean, heavy set that favours feel over flash. It’s their heaviest full-length, but also one of their most inviting, with riffs that loop and churn until they hit a trance-like state.

What hits first is the tone. Guitars rumble with a thick, low-slung fuzz that nods to Sabbath, yet the band keeps the grime aerated with organ lines and synth textures that glow around the edges. Amy Findlay’s drumming is a force, pushing and pulling the tempo just enough to give the big moments a proper rise, and her vocals cut clear through the mix. She never shouts for the sake of it. Instead she rides the pocket, letting the melodies bloom while Hannah’s guitar grinds and spirals. Holly’s bass sits fat and forward, often carrying the hook, and Sarah colours the space with keys that feel part cathedral, part garage. The whole thing breathes like a live band, not a grid.

Stonefield have always balanced melody with muscle, but Bent leans into repetition in a way that feels hypnotic rather than indulgent. Songs circle a phrase or figure and work it until the overtones start doing their own weird harmonics. That’s where they find tension. The choruses don’t arrive like fireworks so much as roll over you in waves, and there’s a satisfying patience to the arrangements. A slow-burner will take its time to coil, then the drums kick a notch harder and the guitars tilt from smoke to flame. It’s the sort of pacing that rewards a full listen, not just a single here and there.

There’s a distinctly Australian heaviness at play, the kind that conjures long drives between country towns and the heat haze on the horizon. It’s not desert rock, exactly, but it has that dust-under-the-fingernails feel. You can hear how years on festival stages and warehouse bills have toughened their sound. They’ve shared bills with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and slotted right in at Gizzfest, and you can imagine these songs rattling the scaffold at The Corner or swallowing the room at The Tote. The band’s roots in Darraweit Guim are never far away either. That small-town sensibility shows up in how direct the writing is. Even at its trippiest, Bent keeps a human scale.

If you’re crate-digging, this is a record that begs for the turntable. The low end is warm and round, the cymbals feel alive, and those organ swells fill the room in a way digital rarely nails. Stonefield vinyl has a way of turning a lounge room into a little venue, and Bent is the prime example. You’ll find Bent vinyl popping up in plenty of Melbourne record store new release racks, and it’s an easy recommendation if you like your psych with weight rather than haze. For collectors, Stonefield albums on vinyl slot neatly next to your Flightless and related staples, and it’s not hard to buy Stonefield records online if you’re outside the city. Either way, it’s a strong pick for anyone browsing vinyl records Australia wide and wanting something that still feels local.

What keeps me coming back is how clear the band’s voice is. Plenty of groups dabble in doom or psych, but Stonefield make it feel personal. Amy sings with a steadiness that sounds almost conversational, even when the band is thundering. The hooks aren’t cheap. They sneak up. A guitar line will shadow a vocal melody, then peel away toward some distant star. The rhythm section stays locked but never stiff. You can sense four players who trust each other, happy to sit on a groove until it turns hallucinogenic, then drop the floor out at just the right moment.

Bent isn’t here to reinvent the wheel. It tightens the lug nuts and sends it downhill. As a front-to-back listen it’s cohesive, heavy and strangely comforting, the sound of a band who know exactly what they do well. Spin it loud, let the room shake a little, and remember how good it feels when a rock record moves air.