Indie folksters The Winter Gypsy have today announced their soaring new single and video for ‘Took Me By’ (out July 8), the first taste of the band’s debut EP, Page I which is set for release on August 5. To celebrate their new tunes, the Adelaide six-piece will be heading out on the road in August, kicking off in Melbourne on August 28 and moving through Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra, before returning to Adelaide for another home town show to end the tour at The Exeter on September 17.
‘Took Me By’ is a drifter, progressing through ambience to defiance and charactarised by delicate vocals and a strong pulse. Deliciously reverberous and subtle electric guitar riffs magnetise to the folky environment in which the song exists, meshing genres with effortless ease. Of the single, lead vocalist Tushar Singh says, “The song itself is also about the uncertainty and fragility of situations that are out of your control. Despite the minimal lyrics, the song resonates this message through the specific choice of words.”
To accompany the track, the The Winter Gypsy have also announced a breathtaking video clip that was directed by Gerard Wood (Timberwolf) and filmed in Mount Barker, South Australia, providing a magnificent backdrop to the quirky eeriness that charactises the visual. A group of young people congregate at an abandoned railway, moving only in slow motion and partaking in behaviours as yet unexplained by the band. Singh describes, “I wrote this song about a period of time wherein my mum was battling cancer – I felt helpless because there was nothing I could do to make her better. I wanted to portray that thought into having a visual of someone restrained and ‘crying out for help,’ but having everyone run past me through the tunnel because there’s nothing they can do to help me. I also wanted to place these random ideas into the video so that other people can depict their own story. Is everyone running away from a train? Do I get hit by a train at the end? Where did the live chicken come from? Who knows.”
‘Took Me By’ is the first single lifted from The Winter Gypsy’s debut EP. After garnering praise and play from Triple J, the group have pulled out all the stops to harvest this stunning collection of songs. Produced by Hugh Atkinson, and in the works since 2012, the EP encompasses all that is great about indie folk music in 2016; it remains true to the acoustic origins of the genre, yet embraces a varied array of different sonic influences. Page I deals with themes of friendship and community, as Singh explains, “We aren’t just a band; we think of ourselves as much more of a family. The six of us recording together brought us even closer, and we all motivated one another to keep reaching for new heights.”
The Winter Gypsy will be hitting the road to celebrate the release of Page I, heading up the east coast of the country in August/September. Excited to play for new audiences, Singh says, “We love performing live and fans can definitely expect a lot more energy compared to what they might usually hear on our EP or other recordings. There is a much greater build-up to either the intro or outro of our songs which really creates a fuller sound. We feel as a band that not only do we enjoy jamming these instrumentals, but it really pulls our audience together and draws them in for each song that we play.”
THE WINTER GYPSY EAST COAST TOUR
SUN 28 AUG | BAR OPEN, FITZROY MELBOURNE | 18+
SUN 4 SEP | THE JADE, ADELAIDE | AA
THUR 8 SEP | PLAYBAR, SURRY HILLS SYD | 18+
SAT 10 SEP | SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE, CANBERRA ACT | AA
SAT 17 SEP | THE EXETER, ADELAIDE | AA | 18+