Review: Drifting Clouds at Wyola Club
Drifting Clouds at Wyola Club
w/ Bad Whip, Agapantha
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Drifting Clouds is the project of Terry Guyula, a singer, songwriter, and keyboardist hailing from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, and Saturday saw him perform with his four-piece live band in Perth for the first time, as part of Arrival Festival, in the cool new loft venue, Wyola Club on High St, Fremantle. Those lucky enough to be in attendance at the sold-out event knew they were witnessing a special new talent.
The music Guyula creates is a stunning fusion of traditional indigenous music, singing in his native language of the Yolngu people—contrasted with pulsing beats and driving ’80s synth sounds. It’s a unique combination of the ancient and the modern, but it works really well, analog chillwave electro with sparkling sax melodies and emotive vocals conjuring ancient Songlines and an ethereal, Dreamtime vibe.
With only a few official releases under his belt, and riding the wave of attention following the release of Drifting Clouds’ first two singles (including his striking debut Bawuypawuy and its retro cool accompanying video), it’s been a big year for Guyula. Many weren’t sure what to expect from the live show, but they certainly did not disappoint, with the band giving the music a real, live, organic feel. They’re an act you feel you’ll be seeing a lot more of in the near future.
Starting the night off on the right note was Agapantha, the DJ name of Agatha (Aggie) Guadalupe Manel-Caracciolo, a Yidinji/Mer Island/Quechuan multidisciplinary queer artist living in the north of WA. Aggie provided the perfect warm-up, with infectious energy, positive vibes, and an upbeat, danceable party set.
She enticed a few dancers up the front with her smooth blend of beats, mixing dub, ragga, and breaks with hip hop and drum ‘n’ bass. The crowd slowly filed in, up the stairs, exploring this cool new space, a long, narrow level that comprises a large open bar area connected to a large open band room.
As the room filled up, Aggie was dropping bangers like Sean Paul’s classic Temperature and mashing up Missy Elliott’s Work It. She certainly did work it, taking things into tougher territory towards the end of her set with some proper old skool jungle business.
Following Agapantha was Bad Whip, a well-chosen local support act for the night. Comprising two members of local jazzy electronic maestros Grievous Bodily Calm, this is the more experimental, improvisational, leftfield side project of drummer Alex Reid and keyboardist Josiah Padmanabhan.
Weird and wonderful beats with live percussion and noodling synths. They started with an epic instrumental jam that rose to a climax before resolving, and slowly stopping to mass applause, then got on the mic to thank the crowd and tell them to step forward to fill the space at the front of the room. “We’ve got an hour, but I think we just fucked it up already with that 17-min track.” Their tracks are mini sonic adventures, spacey ambient electronic soundscapes, in the vein of Boards of Canada, or the ambient work of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher.
After another extended jam, weaving complex rhythmic patterns and heavy, elastic keyboard basslines, they thanked Drifting Clouds for having them as their support on their first Perth tour. They also gave a shout-out to Aggie and all the Arrival crew. Great work indeed on this exciting new Freo winter festival. Well-curated music and arts festivals like Arrival are vital to our city’s culture and in bringing an array of quality, mid-sized, alternative artists to our West Coast.
They had a couple more tracks, embarking on more soaring waves of sparkling synth. They featured their new single, just out in March, Riding A Horse. It’s a smooth, rolling jazzy breaks number, with some incredibly fast, intricate drumming. The nine-minute track is a single, in their sense of the word, with a crazy organ solo to rival Ray Manzarek at his acid-fried best, eventually coming slowly to a halt.
After some more fun beats from Agapantha, it was finally time for Drifting Clouds. They took the stage in their matching suits and ties, looking sharp. The anticipation in the room had grown to fever pitch, as they started their set with some atmospheric keyboard and Guyula’s older backing vocalist taking the lead with some impassioned incantations.
It was an amazing, unique intro that had an immediate impact, with the two singing together in their language. The drummer and other synth player, sitting down behind a Korg, kicked in for the next track, providing a full, solid, throbbing backing track, with Terry up front behind his trusty Yamaha SX920 keyboard.
The whole ’80s aesthetic with the suits matched well with the vintage-sounding keyboards and primitive synth-flute and sax voices. “This next song is for my people,” Guyula introduced plainly. “It’s about the violence happening in NT and Arnhem Land. So I made this song for them, Yaka Mari.”
He talked about how it was good to be back in Perth and how he used to live here in Bentley five-ten years ago, and he thanked the owners of the land. Guyula studied music for five years in Perth, and it seems to finally be paying off for him.
They showed their range in the set with a variety of different-sounding tracks. One with a more funky, wonky beat, before finishing strong on their two big singles. Firstly, playing brand new single, Rarrandharr, with its cruisey Miami Vice vibes, killer keyboard solo and spoken part at the end. It would be nice to know what he is singing about; perhaps some lyrics will be available soon. But he says the song is about the end of the dry season and moving on to a colder, wetter climate, as well as thinking about loved ones and saying goodbye to those who have passed away. Despite not understanding the words, you can feel the emotion.
At times, the band were a bit loose, still finding their groove and rapport, but this will only improve with time. They had great energy, and there was a real synergy between Guyula and his backing vocalist, as they got into the groove. There is no doubting the songs are there, and Terry is an engaging performer with a unique keyboard style, an ear for melody and a smooth, hypnotic voice that sits nicely on top of the pulsing synth beats. It will be interesting to see if he can build on his repertoire and maintain the quality and variety of material.
Of course, they finished on the huge track everyone was waiting for, Buwypauwy. It’s such an epic tune, sounding all the more exciting live with the band drawing out the breakdown and long build before dropping the beat and soaring synth sax sounds, while Guyula’s mellow vocal melodies float gently over the beat. A sublime finale to a very special debut set from an exciting new talent.
ALFRED GORMAN
Photos by Adrian Thomson