Pond‘s new single ‘Toast’ is a warm and louche slice of psychedelia: replete with a laid back swagger with a tongue planted firmly in the cheek, a twinkle in the eye and a wry, sardonic grin. And yet it bears a serious message about class divide in times of emergency. It also comes bearing news of the band’s new album due out through Spinning Top Records on 1 October 2021 entitled ‘9’, because, well, it’s their ninth album.
Singer Nick Allbrook says of the song’s themes, drawn from images of his Western Australian home during the ravaging bushfires where privilege reigned supreme:
The intro chords came from a Joe Ryan demo mysteriously titled Toast. I’ve never asked Joe why he landed on that name, and I probably never will, but it pointed toward the image of fat-headed gobblers touching flutes of bubbles, watching the End of Days gallop over the horizon. I often wonder about those people – the money hoarders, climate change deniers, earth-pilferers and adventure capitalists – are they nihilists or anarchists or do they really believe they are to be saved by some Rock Opera Jesus? We may never know, but here is Toast, which is hopefully as smooth as the smooth, smooth sailing of our glorious leaders fat old white lives.
Through the psychedelic fugue emerges a serious issue for our times, delivered with a scathing panache. The accompanying video encapsulates the critique of privilege; a debauched bacchanalia of indulgence and consumption delivered with some very smooth dance moves from Allbrook. It’s visually arresting and playfully expressed. The video was directed and edited by Pond and Alex Haygarth. jay Watson says of the video:
We filmed the clip on a green screen in an abandoned garden centre in one continuous take. It cost us $300 to make (the price of four takes worth of champagne). I ate five fried eggs over the course of it. Another instalment in a long series of homemade Pond videos.
It’s utterly charming:
‘Toast’ can be downloaded or streamed here. We have already been impressed by earlier single ‘Pink Lunettes‘, and ‘9’ is promising to be another spectacular adventure from this zany group. You can pre-order the album here.
Pond will be venturing out on tour, including a trip to Europe’s prestigious Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona – details below:
Saturday 24 July – Splendour in the Grass XR – tickets here
Thursday 2 June + Saturday 11 June 2022 | Primavera Sound, Barcelona
Feature Photograph: Matsu
