The jangling guitars and anthemic presence of ‘You Know How To Bring Me Down’ heralds a premiere from The Tambourine Girls that we are absolutely honoured to bring you today.
With a sort of loose Primal Scream meets The Jesus and Mary Chain feel intertwined with the Rolling Stones, this is a thrilling statuesque single that positively shimmers in the firmament. A filigree of twanging guitars, slide guitars and a twelve string strum shines and sparkles, and there is an alt.country flavour on the tip of the tongue that is immensely satisfying. The production has a presence that rings like a bell creating a celestial burnish to the melody.
The development of the song was wrought with challenges. The band recounts:
[It] was the hardest song for us to record during the sessions for the album. We had tried playing the song a couple of different ways and recorded multiple takes of each version, but it wasn’t feeling right. We were on the verge of giving in and just picking the best of the bunch and moving on, but luckily decided to go and have lunch and take a break.
When we came back we tried it again, out came this open, relaxed groove with expansive space and a prettiness that carried the song perfectly, and it immediately became one of our favourite songs that we’d ever recorded. This song features beautiful lead guitar hooks and soloing by our late band mate Nick Weaver, and it exemplifies what we called his “magic touch”; the way he could elevate a song to a whole different level with a simple little idea that pulls you into the world of the music.
The tragic story behind the recording seeps into every pore and leaves us something that is quite elegiac and majestic:
This is a shimmering enigmatic track that dances with a subtle psychedelic air, dreamy and lush.
It’s moving song that seems imbued with heartache and sorrow, heralding the release of a new album ‘Different Streets’ from the band, a process cloaked in tragedy with the passing of band member and renowned musician Nick Weaver (Deep Sea Arcade). The band says:
This album has ended up representing both our finest achievements as a band and our greatest heartbreak. With our worlds turned upside down, the album froze for over a year while we grieved our best friend and tried to comprehend whether we could go on playing music without him, and what that would look like.
With the help of our extremely talented and caring friends (Simon Berckelman, Antonia Gauci, Chloe Dadd, Tony Buchen and Nick Franklin), we were able to finish the record and create a body of work that was simultaneously the best music we ever made with Nick, as well as a tribute to him.
Based on this single, it will be an epic testimonial. ‘Different Streets’ can be pre-saved here.
The Tambourine Girls were formed in 2014 by ex-Deep Sea Arcade guitarist Simon Relf.
You can catch them live in the coming months:
Sunday 5 March Get Together Festival Wombarra NSW
Saturday 15 April Factory Floor Marrickville NSW
Album Launch, Supported by The Melodrones
Saturday May 13 The Big Chill Festival Armidale NSW
Feature photograph: Mike Terry (miguelito_terry)
