Brisbane garage pop/psych band Nice Biscuit have announced the release of their eagerly-awaited sophomore album ‘SOS‘.
The announcement comes with the release of new single “The Star“, and its accompanying video. The follow-up to their 2018 debut LP ‘Digital Mountain’ will be out on October 4th via Bad Vibrations/Fuzz Club (EU) and The Reverberation Appreciation Society/Greenway Records (NA). Pre-order your copy here.
Written and recorded during 2022-23 at Swan Pond Studios (QLD) and mixed by Mildlife’s Jim Rindfleish, the nine-track album embodies the fuzzy groove-laden psych that Nice Biscuit is renowned for while introducing new danceable feels influenced by their love of disco, jazz fusion and world music.
With the beautifully hypnotic and soothing vocals of front women, Billie Star and Grace Cuell, SOS is about finding calm and balance in our chaotic world. While writing the album, the band often discussed the weight and compounding of the various crises of the world, thus each song is a different response to these turbulent times. The band explains:
“Sometimes we feel hopeful and grateful, sometimes pessimistic and desolate, sometimes mournful and angry at the system, sometimes we feel that love can solve it all and sometimes we just become overwhelmed and apathetic about everything.”
Of their recording process, they say:
“The boys laid down the foundations of the songs on the weekend prior and then Billie and Grace would head out to add vocals and write lyrics. Often we would not have the lyrics or melodies finished before going out there, which allowed more focus and energy to be poured into the instrumentation and vocals. It fostered greater creativity and space by doing it separately and felt like a fun back and forth between the two groups, being excited to share what we have created. Then in the weeks after we got together and added more synth and percussion parts.”
About the new single, they share:
“’The Star’ (inspired by the tarot card of the same name) is about the period of well-deserved healing and peace following big hardship. It is the follow-up to our song The Tower – that depicted chaos and challenges. The Star explores the feeling of surrendering into yourself just as you are and trusting others to guide you through challenges to usher you into a new & brighter chapter of life. It was influenced by the joy of being together and peeling away the pressures and anxiety of life. We felt like we could share that feeling through this song.”
Check out SOS below, followed by the album’s artwork and tracklist.
Nice Biscuit “SOS” Tracklist:
- The Star
- Love That Takes You Up
- SOS
- Rain
- Moment
- Desolation
- Discomfort
- Fade Away
- Breathe
Photo Credit: Kyle Dobie
