Reliqa have taken the world by storm this year, appearing on multiple tour packages this year alongside bands like Caligula's Horse, Northlane and Silent Planet. This was on top of festival appearances at Full Tilt and Monolith Festival off the back of their incredibly successful masterpiece EP I Don't Know What I Am.
Vocalist Monique Pym has kindly told us her year in review and some of the tunes she's been spinning whilst preparing for Reliqa's final stint around the country. Check it out!
TOP RELEASES OF 2022
5. Windwaker - Love Language
4. Ocean Grove - Up In The Air Forever
3. Aurora - The Gods We Can Touch
2. Void of Vision - Chronicles
1. Northlane - Obsidian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s4TiCT7nWI
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2022
(To absolve my guilt I’ve intentionally not included songs by any of the artists in my top albums because those are already all killer, no filler!)
5. Kendrick Lamar - ‘United In Grief’
4. Voyager - ‘Dreamer
3. Ninajirachi feat. Montaigne - ‘One Long Firework in the Sky’
2. Polyphia feat. Sophia Black - ‘ABC’
1. Make Them Suffer - ‘Doomswitch’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSW5gBfdR_8
BEST MUSIC VIDEO OF 2022
Polyphia - 'ABC feat. Sophia Black'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtd24QIBJ5Y
FAVOURITE GIG YOU PLAYED THIS YEAR
This is the hardest question to answer, we’ve had an absolutely stacked year for shows. Special mentions have to go to the Perth date of Monolith Festival at Red Hill Auditorium, the Newcastle date of Silent Planet at The Cambridge, and Crowbar’s 10th Birthday with Northlane and Windwaker.
BIGGEST WTF OR WHOLESOME MOMENT FOR YOU/YOUR BAND
I’ve had plenty of sweet moments this year where I’ve had to stop and do a reality check, both for Reliqa getting some incredible opportunities and just live music being back in general. This one in particular pretty much sums it up: Plini was playing at Monolith Festival just as the sun was going down (aka the perfect atmosphere for music like his, chef’s kiss). I was watching with the band and some of our mates after just playing one of our favourite sets, and we’d had heaps of people approach us and express how much they loved our show or are fans of our music. I’ve fallen in love with this industry over and over again this year after so many moments like that.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CixF9q6PZ1A/
ANY SNEAK PEEKS OF YOUR 2023 PLANS FOR FANS
We’ve just kicked off a pretty experimental form of writing where we’re trying a whole lot of new things, which should hopefully see the light of day somewhere in 2023. Apart from that, we’ve done a total refresh of our live setlist since releasing IDKWIA, so if you haven’t seen a Reliqa show in a while (or at all), you’re in for a brand new experience next year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Clj-f0cyc0v/
BEST ADVICE GOING INTO 2023?
Learn as much as you can from everyone you meet!
Written by Monique Pym @moniquepym
