Music / Premieres
Video Premiere:
Pop Filter - Laughing Falling
Pop Filter - Laughing Falling
Today we have the absolute pleasure of premiering the instantly joyous new single ‘Laughing Falling’ from emerging jangle-pop ensemble Pop Filter, a spontaneous and thrilling new project from a group of Australia’s most-loved musicians.
I’ve got a vague memory from one of my first times seeing The Ocean Party, where Lachlan Denton told a meandering anecdote about visiting a McDonald’s that had been transformed with a fine-dining rebrand. I can’t really remember the point of the story (something to do with touchscreens I think?) but it was pretty funny and I do remember thinking it was a pretty well-crafted piece of banter overall.
As I got to know The Ocean Party’s music better over the following years, something about that anecdote seemed to reveal why the band was so inexplicably good - their ability to create songs that felt lovingly considered and constructed, yet simultaneously off-the-cuff and endearingly unforced. In hindsight, their two 2018 releases, the reckless and off-kilter IBO and their definitive final statement The Oddfellows' Hall, play like an honouring of both these tendencies.
A series of new projects have emerged since The Ocean Party wrapped up, and much of this has been the group’s most thoughtful music yet - see Lachlan Denton & Studio Magic’s A Brother and Snowy Band’s Audio Commentary. However, Pop Filter sits on the other end of the spectrum. Described as a “sort of experiment in pairing 10+ years of shared experience with a completely blank slate, uninhibited by expectation”, the band’s existence is a celebration of their ongoing friendship and history together.
From the get-go, it’s very easy to get caught up by this playful dynamic on ’Laughing Falling’. Loose and instantaneous, the track is a tangle of brittle acoustic guitar and bubbling keys over a bouncing backbeat, and although Curtis Wakeling’s vocals sound fairly unhurried, it’s clear from the overwhelming charm of each chorus that the group are thrilled to be singing together. Pulled from their forthcoming debut album Banksia (an album that was largely written and recorded in four days in a family holiday house), ‘Laughing Falling’ is naturally raw and unrefined - however, it’s also immediately clear that the spirited pop-smarts that are so innate to this group are impossible to bury.
The new single comes accompanied with a pretty incredible clip, created by the band amidst the current lockdown. There’s a fair bit to take in, so I might just leave you with mastermind Jordan Thompson’s explanation below.
“A morbid fascination with Steampunk has long been present amongst the band and with Covid-19 encouraging human kind into a repose of self-exploration, we figured it was time to go all in. Separated by land and sea I requested that everyone get "steamed up" and send me some footage from their phones. I'm isolated in Tasmania presently, so I had nothing to do but work on the footage for a week and try to make a rough narrative out of the disparate performances. Once I found some good steam effects I was basically off to the races.”
“The result is a rich cinematic work which urges the art form towards new technological horizons, and a heartbreaking true story of love, loss and the birth of a movement.” I couldn’t have said that better myself.
As I got to know The Ocean Party’s music better over the following years, something about that anecdote seemed to reveal why the band was so inexplicably good - their ability to create songs that felt lovingly considered and constructed, yet simultaneously off-the-cuff and endearingly unforced. In hindsight, their two 2018 releases, the reckless and off-kilter IBO and their definitive final statement The Oddfellows' Hall, play like an honouring of both these tendencies.
A series of new projects have emerged since The Ocean Party wrapped up, and much of this has been the group’s most thoughtful music yet - see Lachlan Denton & Studio Magic’s A Brother and Snowy Band’s Audio Commentary. However, Pop Filter sits on the other end of the spectrum. Described as a “sort of experiment in pairing 10+ years of shared experience with a completely blank slate, uninhibited by expectation”, the band’s existence is a celebration of their ongoing friendship and history together.
From the get-go, it’s very easy to get caught up by this playful dynamic on ’Laughing Falling’. Loose and instantaneous, the track is a tangle of brittle acoustic guitar and bubbling keys over a bouncing backbeat, and although Curtis Wakeling’s vocals sound fairly unhurried, it’s clear from the overwhelming charm of each chorus that the group are thrilled to be singing together. Pulled from their forthcoming debut album Banksia (an album that was largely written and recorded in four days in a family holiday house), ‘Laughing Falling’ is naturally raw and unrefined - however, it’s also immediately clear that the spirited pop-smarts that are so innate to this group are impossible to bury.
The new single comes accompanied with a pretty incredible clip, created by the band amidst the current lockdown. There’s a fair bit to take in, so I might just leave you with mastermind Jordan Thompson’s explanation below.
“A morbid fascination with Steampunk has long been present amongst the band and with Covid-19 encouraging human kind into a repose of self-exploration, we figured it was time to go all in. Separated by land and sea I requested that everyone get "steamed up" and send me some footage from their phones. I'm isolated in Tasmania presently, so I had nothing to do but work on the footage for a week and try to make a rough narrative out of the disparate performances. Once I found some good steam effects I was basically off to the races.”
“The result is a rich cinematic work which urges the art form towards new technological horizons, and a heartbreaking true story of love, loss and the birth of a movement.” I couldn’t have said that better myself.
Banksia is set to be released on August 21st, via Osborne Again and Spunk Records.
