Thursday May 26, 2022
Cigarettes and Whisky is sure to be Gold Coast-based singer-songwriter Kent Dustin’s break-out track.
With loads of hooks and a sensual, seductive blues-pop groove, it also features a lyric that many might relate to—knowing something’s not quite right for you but doing it anyway. In the case of Cigarettes & Whisky, we’re talking love, the meeting of two people who are, well, as the song suggests, both bad but kind of good.
And perhaps not so good for each other. Written by Kent and produced by internationally renowned producer Robby De Sa (5SOS, The Veronicas, Vera Blue, Tina Arena), Cigarettes & Whisky’s alt pop-rock allure and roots-blues foundation is the perfect sonic backdrop for this tale of incompatible attraction and obsession. What’s most impressive about the track, aside from its melodies and the sterling production job, is Kent’s vocal performance, gritty and intense, earthy, and dynamic.
The emerging star has been a featured vocalist for Channel 10’s Creative Generation QLD 2011, winning Runner-Up solo vocalist at the Applause Rising Talent Showcase in Florida in 2014. Kent has not only performed across Australia for several years but toured internationally in Singapore and the Philippines, where he featured on the #1 Music channel, MYX.
As Kent says about the motivation behind the track, ‘The song encapsulates the feeling of a flirty encounter you don’t mind entertaining, and even wanting to repeat a few times, despite knowing you’re both no good for each other long term. Cigarettes and whisky aren’t good for you but are a thrill in small doses and do go well together.’ Kent’s sound is a hybrid of influences and might be compared to a cross-pollination of artists, including Ed Sheeran, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Shawn Mendes.
Yet, it is an enthralling, individual style, with Kent’s self-assured voice and vocal style undeniably powerful and evocative. Born and raised to the soundtrack of country music in the rural Darling Downs, the outback influence underpins Kent’s musical palette. Cigarettes & Whisky is sure to establish the trajectory of this fast-rising Australian music artist.
