News: Thirty years after they last went quiet, Eora/Sydney's cult psychedelic heroes the legendary Drop City are thrillingly 'Alive', and all is good in the world.

Reunions are usually about looking back. You get the anniversary reissue, the victory-lap shows and a set full of songs people already love. Drop City did all of that in 2025 when they reformed after a 30-year hiatus to celebrate the vinyl reissue of their classic album ‘Magic Transistor Radio’ (see our piece here). With current members including Matthew J Tow and Matthew Sigley, frequent visitors to our pages in other bands such as The Lovetones and Underground Lovers, this is the return of the originals. The shows sold out, the reviews were glowing, and the reissue reached #44 on the ARIA Australian Artist Albums Chart and #9 on the AIR Independent Albums Chart. Nostalgia, in other words, was doing just fine.

‘Alive’ is a different matter – it sounds like a band that has never had more to say. It’s the band’s first major studio release in decades, out through Cheersquad Records & Tapes, and it isn’t a reunion song. It’s a statement of intent from a band that plans to stay.

Drop City and Liam Judson (Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Cloud Control) co-produced the track. ‘Alive’ is a sun-drenched anthem built on a rolling rhythm and a bassline that never sits still. Then the chorus arrives and the organ lifts everything into full-blown celebration, with expressive lead guitar weaving through and tambourine splashing over the top. It’s joyous, but it never feels lightweight. There’s real musical intelligence here, the kind that only comes from people who have spent a lifetime learning when to push and when to let a song breathe.

The song positively shimmers and glows as the crystalline guitars sparkles with a delicate crispness and the chorus soars like an albatross in the skies – magnificent and bold over a hammond organ bed. It’s eye-wateringly uplifting and euphoric and yet touched, as all good pop songs are, with a hint of melancholy.

The song’s origins are as winding as you’d hope. Frontman Matthew J. Tow explains:

This one had been kicking around for a bit. It was originally inspired by a track I was working on with Collin Hegna from The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I decided to create something new from the skeleton. I wanted to get cosmic, like most songs throughout my life; if they aren’t about someone, they’re usually some sort of big cosmic conundrum.

That cosmic streak has always been part of Drop City. Formed in Eora/Sydney in 1993, they became one of Australia’s most respected cult psychedelic rock bands. Their first run produced five albums and tours of Australia, the UK, Canada and the United States. They played Big Day Out twice and Meredith Music Festival, and their music came out internationally on Sub Pop. They shared stages with The Stone Roses, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo, Manic Street Preachers, Swervedriver, Luna, Powderfinger, You Am I, Hoodoo Gurus and The Posies. That’s quite a CV for a band that has kept its ‘cult’ tag.

This is exactly what the Marrickville Sound is about. Veteran musicians who have nothing left to prove go back into the studio without the pressure of a career to build, and make something that sounds freer and happier than ever. ‘Alive’ does more than live up to Drop City’s legacy. It puts that legacy back in play. Creativity does not have a use-by date, and this song is three and a half minutes of proof.

The track comes with a charming animated video by longtime collaborator and dear friend Simon Killalea (Sidewinder, The Fauves, Decoder Ring), who also designed the artwork.