Melbourne’s City Calm Down is thrilled to announce the release of their new single, ‘Blood’. The first taste of the band’s highly anticipated second album, Blood was premiered on triple j’s Good Nights with Linda Marigliano and is out now.
In celebration of their new single, City Calm Down will be performing new material in six capital cities in Aug/Sept – their first headline dates in almost a year. This will be the only chance to catch headline shows before the band’s next record – tickets go on sale 10am (AEST), Friday 16 June via www.citycalmdown.com.
Inspired by a standoff with a former employer, ‘Blood’ is all formidable, joyful crescendos – the push and pull of a day job versus touring commitments.
“I ended up quitting my job,” singer Jack Bourke explains. “My boss was being inflexible but I was also being self absorbed, and the lyrics reflect that. They touch on the grind of work and how easy it is to isolate yourself from the people who matter to you by being too caught up in your own ambition and what you’re doing.
“This is a place I feel we ended up towards the end of recording the album,” he continues. “We were running late-night recording sessions during the middle of the week when we all had work the following morning, and we were all just emotionally exhausted by the end. Not to let an opportunity go to waste, we really tried to capture that sense of madness in the final chorus.”
For album #2 the band are reteaming with producer Malcolm Beasley (who helmed their debut). The meticulous In A Restless House spawned singles ‘Son’, ‘Rabbit Run’, ‘Wandering’, ‘Your Fix’ and ‘Border On Control’, earning over 3 million streams on Spotify and scoring high rotation across triple j (inc. a Feature Album), Beats 1, FBi, Triple R, 4ZZZ and more. Accolades from internationals such as NME, Stereogum, Consequence of Sound, Indie Shuffle and more; sell out national tour; sets at Falls, Splendour, Sugar Mountain, The Big Pineapple and other festivals. Now, after months of solid work, it’s time for City Calm Down to reveal their next step.
“The new record feels like a natural progression from In A Restless House,” explains Bourke. “There are songs that expand on the themes and songwriting present on that record, and there are songs that mark a clear departure. It also feels much more cohesive… which is probably due to us having a clearer idea of how we wanted the songs to sound before we went into the studio.”
Joining City Calm Down at all shows is hardworking Melbourne soul ensemble The Cactus Channel, whose recent EP Do It For Nothing, with Ball Bark Music’s Sam Cromack, is available via Bandcamp. It’s the latest collaboration for the band, who also worked with Nick Murphy aka Chet Faker on track ‘Kill The Doubt’.
Don’t miss these shows! There’s plenty more to come from City Calm Down…
CITY CALM DOWN – BLOOD TOUR
Fri 25 Aug | Rosemount, Perth, WA (18+)
Sat 26 Aug | Mojos, Fremantle, WA (18+)
Fri 1 Sept | 170 Russell, Melbourne, VIC (18+)
Sat 2 Sept | The Gov, Adelaide, SA (18+)
Fri 8 Sept | Metro Theatre, Sydney, NSW (18+)
Sat 16 Sept | The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD (18+)