Article by Saskia McKenna
On a rainy day in 2022, some friends and I decided to buy tickets to a cheap gig at Mary’s Underground in Sydney.
The act that night: Noah Dillon.
Despite barely knowing his music upon entry, we all left that night proclaiming it was one of the best gigs we had ever been to.
His infectious energy and ability to get you chanting and hollering along despite not knowing the words leads me to the conclusion that he has that x-factor for Eurovision.
After buying a copy of his debut album Kill The Dove that night on the promise that he would sign it (he did), it was a regular on my turntable whenever I needed a good vent.
There are two qualities that make a great Noah Dillon song: (1) his knack for writing witty, often anecdotal, punchy lyrics and (2) incorporating dynamic changes to his songs.
In tracks such as Kneivel Daredevil, Are You Gonna Blame Me If I Just Give Up and Broken But Its Working” he throws out the conventional ending in favour of a complete melodic switch-up.
This technique has been utilised by the likes of Aram MP3, Mustii, Käärijä and Joost Klein to great effect and are often cited as highlights of their respective songs.
Noah knows how to play to both ends. He can make a crowd-pleaser, anthemic and energetic (see songs like Nothing Matters and I.C.A.N.T), but he can also be introspective and slower (see songs like Comfort is Not the Reason (kill the dove) and Who You Used to Be).
But there is an undercurrent to all his work that is always distinctly him.
Attracting younger audiences
I also raise that Noah would be a great choice to show off Australia’s current youth music scene, which I feel is underrepresented in our Eurovision offerings.
As a young person who goes to a fair few local gigs popular amongst students, the most dominant genres are alt-rock and indie.
Tuning into the Triple J is a great indicator of what a lot of the youth listen to, and Noah Dillon is an artist who gets that airtime and is reflective of the current culture.
SBS should consider engaging more young people in Eurovision as a lot of people my age I ask about it either know very little about it or interact with it minimally.
I feel that a reason for this could stem from our participants not having a large gen-z following. Sourcing from the Triple-J pool of artists would be a great way to tap into this market.
Genre and opportunity
For Noah in particular, his style falls into the popular genre of alt-rock with a bit more bite and an anthemic quality that makes it competitive. In any year, he would absolutely stand out from the crowd, especially in a style of music sorely underrepresented on the Eurovision stage.
On his end, participation would greatly bolster his career, compared to the usual suspects that are thrown into the ring every year by fans.
Noah would only have things to gain by going. Currently sitting at 20,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and just under 8,000 followers on Instagram, this could be the break he’s been waiting for.
European tour
He also recently embarked on his first Europe tour, hitting up multiple cities in Germany, as well as dates in The Netherlands, Austria and Zurich in Switzerland. So, there is already a little local support guaranteed.
I hope that I have made a compelling case on behalf of Noah. This is all personal preference of course but I strongly believe that sending Noah or an act similar would be a promising path forward for Australia.
You can follow Noah Dillon on Instagram @noahdillonmusic
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