On first glance, I thought Neil Breen was fronting the band. How great would it be if Neil was belting out “On The Run?” Less disinformation below.
After a series of impressive and buzzed-about singles and EPs, London by way of Australia’s Tempesst is excited to announce the upcoming release of their debut album. Must Be a Dream will be released on September 30 via their own label Pony Recordings. Crafted and produced entirely in the band’s studio with the help of long-time friend and producer Elliot Heinrich, Must Be a Dream is a massive step forward from their previous short format releases; a wide-eyed excursion of folk-tinged psychedelia with nods to Spirtualized, the Flaming Lips and the Beach Boys skewed with a modern view of melodicism.
Today the band share the LP’s first single, “On The Run.” The soaring track layers vocal harmonies on top of reverb heavy instrumentation orchestrated far and wide into a massive psychedelic pop exploration. It’s all brought back to earth by Tempesst vocalist Toma Banjanin’s slithering baritone and stories of death, substance abuse and the loss of innocence forever. He notes, “it’s about a close friend who disappeared for a decade and returned as someone completely different, and it’s an ongoing trauma. When I connected the music to the lyrics to try and finish the song, it felt like it had a rolling rhythm, so the chorus fell into place from there. For me, this song carries a lot more emotional weight.” Clash have already weighed in calling the song “a thoughtful piece of psych-pop that muses on friendship, loss, and the passing of time.”
