Music / Premieres
Video Premiere:
Grey Whistle Test - Terraformer
Grey Whistle Test - Terraformer
Back with their first new music in almost a year, Melbourne’s Grey Whistle Test have revealed their latest single ‘Terraformer’ today - a track that sees their experimental folk expanding in both ambition and scope, alongside a mesmerising collaboration with Australian Ballet Company soloist Jill Ogai.
There are some pieces of music that demand to be accompanied by a dazzling cinematic visual, and Grey Whistle Test’s latest song is a keen example of this. The three-piece - Max Stanley (vocals, guitar), Will Sacre (guitar), Jay Cutforth (drums) - recruited a fourth person for ‘Terraformer’, the Australian Ballet Company soloist Jill Ogai, and the result is a wondrous conjoining of artistic forms: Ogai’s delicate movements on camera intimately weave their way through Grey Whistle Test’s momentous and immersive soundscape.
The band’s typical folk leanings are enhanced with a thick ambient atmosphere here, certainly aided by the accompanying artwork. Ogai’s interpretation of the song adds resonance to the track, as her body bends and moves between shades of blue and red. The video is soothing yet alienating; comforting but melancholic.
‘Terraformer’ is a blend of big indie-rock and considered folk, a balancing act that reminds one of the composure and excellence of Big Thief. Its lyrics are simultaneously grounded and transcendent, contending with both climate anxiety and mental health. Stanley’s pained vocal considers a relationship as he sings “But you and me were glowing / Like embers in fire / Sometimes receding / When that circle transpires”, before lamenting at the chorus “for god sake terraformer...god save terraformer”, an acknowledgement of the need to consider the universal outside the personal. This year has battered Australia with virus and fire - we all have our own issues to deal with, but our planet needs to be cared for too.
The track comes from a planned new EP Like A Sunset, But Spinning, which is due out later this year, and it will be interesting to see if their forthcoming music can match this track’s dense and eerie textures in magnitude. Until then, there’s more than enough to unravel from ‘Terraformer’ to tide us over in the meantime.
The band’s typical folk leanings are enhanced with a thick ambient atmosphere here, certainly aided by the accompanying artwork. Ogai’s interpretation of the song adds resonance to the track, as her body bends and moves between shades of blue and red. The video is soothing yet alienating; comforting but melancholic.
‘Terraformer’ is a blend of big indie-rock and considered folk, a balancing act that reminds one of the composure and excellence of Big Thief. Its lyrics are simultaneously grounded and transcendent, contending with both climate anxiety and mental health. Stanley’s pained vocal considers a relationship as he sings “But you and me were glowing / Like embers in fire / Sometimes receding / When that circle transpires”, before lamenting at the chorus “for god sake terraformer...god save terraformer”, an acknowledgement of the need to consider the universal outside the personal. This year has battered Australia with virus and fire - we all have our own issues to deal with, but our planet needs to be cared for too.
The track comes from a planned new EP Like A Sunset, But Spinning, which is due out later this year, and it will be interesting to see if their forthcoming music can match this track’s dense and eerie textures in magnitude. Until then, there’s more than enough to unravel from ‘Terraformer’ to tide us over in the meantime.
Grey Whistle Test's forthcoming EP Like A Sunset, But Spinning is set to be released later this year.
