Glasgow-based collective Peter Cat return with their most grandiose release yet, unveiling the beat-fuelled and gloriously off-kilter ‘Peacocking’, the title track from their forthcoming EP.
Where the guitar driven, indie-pop of ‘Innocent Driver’, ‘Peacocking’ pushes their instincts for melody, rhythm and eccentricity further into the realms of 80s influenced electronic pop. Built around a compulsive groove and layered synths, the track explores the irrational nature of attraction and the strange loss of control that can accompany desire, particularly when being single in your thirties begins to feel like an exercise in self-awareness and self-reproach.
Playful and humorous, displaying the bands knack for taking everyday anxieties and transforming them into something strange, colourful and immediately catchy, ‘Peacocking’ is charming yet introspective simultaneously.
Frontman Graham Gillespie explains: “It’s my ode to the limbic system. There are an incomprehensible number of pop songs about love and sex and attraction, but so many of them are couched in the language of agency: I choose to be, I choose to want, I want you, I don’t want you. I am rational with my desire. But that’s not really the case, is it?
‘Peacocking’ is about that irrational, incomprehensible desire that compels your body into the bar or onto the dancefloor against your will, like a zombie, even when you’d probably rather stay home and watch Twin Peaks with a packet of Oreos. It’s the strutting peacock whose brain has been taken over by the cordyceps fungus. And the fact that said peacock may wish to consider the possibility of going to therapy, one day.”
That sense of being driven by instincts beyond rational control is reflected in the track’s production. Drum-machine-inspired rhythms provide its foundation while Gillespie’s Jarvis Cocker-esque vocals weave through an increasingly expansive arrangement. What begins with a tightly wound groove gradually blossoms into something anthemic, with layers of sound accumulating to give the song a striking sense of scale.
Drawing on the theatrical grandeur of classic art-pop while retaining Peter Cat’s wonky charm and distinctly Glasgow sense of humour, the production itself was deliberately pushed towards maximalism, with the band drawing inspiration from Pulp’s darker and more expansive work.
Of the track’s ‘big’ production, Gillespie reflects:
“The reference point was Pulp’s ‘This is Hardcore’ album, songs like the title track and ‘The Fear’, that manage to be both intimate and enormous at the same time. Coming from our ‘Starchamber’ album, which was actually quite minimal in terms of tracking, it was nice to go maximalist again on this one, and layer up 20 tracks of backing vocals. Is there anything more narcissistic than creating an entire choir of oneself, to sing your own lyrics back to you? If there is, I’ll make sure to discover it in time for our next record. Big shout out to our drummer Kev too, who absolutely nailed it on this one, taking the shuffley 808 patterns from the original demo of the track and giving them a whole new lease of life on a live drum kit.”
That collision between electronic rhythm and live instrumentation is central to the song’s character. The shuffling 808 patterns of the original demo are transformed by drummer Kev into something more physical, while the layers of backing vocals give the track an almost regal sense of scale. There is something appropriately peacock-like about the whole arrangement, flamboyant and colourful, with just enough narcissism to make the metaphor stick.
Chris McCrory, known for his work with Catholic Action and Conscious Pilot, once again handles production and mixing duties, helping Peter Cat strike a balance between their increasingly danceable instincts and the unpredictable personality that has long made the band stand apart.
With the forthcoming EP on the horizon, ‘Peacocking’ suggests Peter Cat are entering a particularly expansive phase. For all its grandeur, though, the track never loses sight of the peculiar, self-deprecating spirit that makes the band so compelling.
Listen below:
