Say Psych: Track: Nice Biscuit – Fem Chem

Australian psych quintet, Nice Biscuit are back with driving new single ‘Fem Chem’ taken from a new EP titled Create Simulate scheduled for release in January, 2021 via Believe Digital.

Weaving playful guitar driven melodies with chanting harmonised vocals, ‘Feminine Chemical’ presents a critique of toxic masculinity in order to embrace a more open and emotional culture, contemplating ways of injecting unapologetic sensitivity, kindness, play and imagination into daily life. Despite writing and recording the song earlier in the year, these themes feel far more relevant since the worldwide breakout of COVID-19 and subsequent isolation. Armed with a plethora of psych-rock chords and a high dose of surf-twang, Fem Chem also brings a warm cloud of erratic sensibility. This journey has been visualised in an uncanny, yet fitting video directed by Lily Cotter and Nick Cavendish, with help from James Caswell, who shot the band in their wonderful, hand-sewn outfits crafted by singers, Billie Star, Grace Cuell, and close friends.

Since their last successful UK visit in 2019, and a sold out national Australia tour with The Murlocs, (fronted by Ambrose Kenny Smith of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard) Nice Biscuit went through a line-up change, and then went on hiatus while singer, Grace had surgery to repair a hole in her heart (congenital birth defect), from which she recovered beautifully. The band were just about to head out a national Australian tour when the first lockdown was announced, so they spent 2020 in a very productive writing bubble, and then staged their first Covid-safe seated shows in their hometown of Brisbane this September.

Starting slow the track lulls you into a false sense of security, before competing styles create something somewhere between Stealing Sheep and King Gizzard – in short, a sound that pleases many and brings a shot of happiness to you in a 3:20 package.