Having been on a huge tear for the last 12 months, Sydney outfit PLANET look set to keep the fun times rolling with the release today of a brand-new single, ‘Imaginary,’ as well as announcing the release of a new EP, Maybe Someday – out April 17 via label partner Dew Process.
A haze of dreamy guitars and thumping heartbeats punctuate ‘Imaginary’ through its gentle build up to wash of colour and reverb through its chorus. The song is the perfect sonic maneuver in the aftermath of previous singles, ‘Reason Why’ and ‘Never New,’ both of which appear alongside ‘Imaginary’ on the five tracks featured on Maybe Someday.
The origins of the song were one of those innocent songwriting moments every artist dreams about explains the band’s guitarist, Tom Peppitt. “Matty [Took – vocalist] and I were playing through some older stuff on acoustics and spinning some ideas at his home studio in Redfern. The chorus progression came first with Matty figuring out the rough vocal melody pretty quickly after that. It was one of those things where everything just fell into place almost automatically and the song wrote itself.”
‘Imaginary’ pulls back the curtain on the remaining two EP tracks and shines some light on the direction of the rest of the EP’s remaining songs, ‘Outright’ and the title track. Produced by the band themselves and Lachie Mitchell (The Jezabels), and also engineered by Mitchell at Parliament Studios in Sydney, it actually took the band a brief retreat from the city to hone the elements of the record that they think are most crucial.
“We really wanted to take a huge step forward in our approach to recording & producing this EP,” says Peppitt. “Before heading into the studio we all spent a couple weeks away on a property in the country working through a truckload of songs and really narrowing down how he wanted the EP to sound. The best thing about writing & tracking a small amount of songs is that it really gives you a chance to hone in on the sonic qualities and styles you’re going for. We knew heading into the studio that we wanted the tracks to sound really big with even more pop influences than previous releases. I think we ended up with five tracks that are true and honest to our ‘sound’ but also start to delve into areas of production and music composition we’re all definitely excited to further explore.”
2019 was a huge year for PLANET. It saw them partner with Australian indie stalwart label, Dew Process, reinforcing their position as one of the most exciting new acts in the country, as well as launch multiple tours across Australia, Europe, and their home away from home, the UK.
A band famous for their rollicking live shows, PLANET has also announced they’ll be taking the songs of Maybe Definitely on the road this April, starting with an EP launch show in Brisbane on April 17, before heading to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. They’ll then return to the UK in May.
PLANET MAYBE SOMEDAY 2020 TOUR
17 April – The Foundry, Brisbane
24 April – Crown & Anchor, Adelaide
25 April – Howler, Melbourne
9 May – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
“The most exciting part is how shit hot these songs are going to sound live. We’ve really upped our live game over the last year and the first few tour rehearsals we’ve already had are getting us all really keen for this year.”
There’s a dreamy, ethereal presence that flows from start to finish in all of their songs, dancing between the shimmering guitar tones, the splashing cymbals and winding bass lines, as the buzzing texture of lead vocalist Took’s inimitable voice sings the kind of aching lyricism The Triffid’s David McComb would have been proud of – his words longing for lives and loves past with an equal sense of joy, humour and heartbreak. Come experience it all live this April.