– The Preatures – Live at SXSW March 27, 2014 – VPRO/3VOOR12 – Netherlands
Seems like every few days there’s word of a new band coming out of Australia, and from the looks of it, it appears Oz has become the new hotbed of musical activity the past few years.
This time it’s The Preatures, fronted by the luxuriant Isabella Manfredi.
The Preatures are from Sydney, New South Wales. They formed in 2010 and disbanded in 2021, following the launch of lead vocalist and keyboardist Isabella “Izzi” Manfredi‘s solo career. The group reunited in December 2024 for a one-off concert to commemorate their tenth anniversary, with a reissue of their 2014 debut album, Blue Planet Eyes. They have continued to tour around Australia in 2025. The band consists of Manfredi, guitarist and vocalist Jack Moffitt, bassist Thomas Champion, and drummer Luke Davison. Vocalist and guitarist Gideon Bensen was a member of the band until 2016. In 2013, the Preatures won the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition with their song “Is This How You Feel?“.
In 2012, they changed the spelling of their name to the Preatures to avoid legal complications with other bands using similar names. They signed with Mercury Records for a five-album contract and recorded their debut EP, Shaking Hands, in Los Angeles. The EP featured the single “Take a Card”, written by Manfredi, with Bensen on lead vocals. It was uploaded to Triple J Unearthed.[5]
In 2013, they released their second extended play, Is This How You Feel?, which was preceded by two singles, “Is This How You Feel?” and “Manic Baby”. “Is This How You Feel?” had considerable success, winning the $50,000 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition, receiving a nomination for an ARIA Award for Best Pop Release, and being voted ninth in Triple J‘s Hottest 100 of 2013.
The band’s debut studio album, Blue Planet Eyes, was released on 30 September 2014, peaking at No. 4 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the 2015 ARIA Awards, the group were nominated in three categories.
Bensen left the band on good terms in March 2016. Their second studio album, Girlhood, was released on 11 August 2017 by Island Records. It was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Rock Album. The single “Yanada” was co-written with Darug musician Jacinta Tobin. Along with the release of the single, the Preatures launched a campaign to help the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies raise money to maintain the documentation of Indigenous languages.
Following a prolonged period of inactivity, Manfredi confirmed the band’s breakup in May 2021. The end of her ten-year romantic relationship with Moffitt, along with a record contract they were unhappy with, were the main reasons for the split. Manfredi pursued a solo career, while Davison began playing drums for Australian artists Delta Goodrem and Dean Lewis. Moffitt pursued a career in production as well as playing guitar with Tyne-James Organ. Manfredi spoke at some length about the breakup of the band and her personal relationships with Rolling Stone Australia in 2021.
On 10 December 2024, the band reunited for a one-off performance at Sydney’s Lansdowne Hotel, the first venue they had ever played, to commemorate their tenth anniversary, and reissued Blue Planet Eyes on vinyl to celebrate the occasion. Jem Cassar-Daley opened for the band. They have continued to tour into 2025, in commemoration of their debut album, starting on 5 June and finishing on 16 August 2025.
Here’s a chance to catch them as they were in 2014, plaing for the SXSW crowd in Austin, Texas. Winning friends and influencing radio stations
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