It’s the prefect time for The Bats again as they release the single, ‘The Gown’, as we hit the home stretch to their forthcoming new album ‘Corner Coming Up’ on 17 October, through Flying Nun Records.
‘The Gown’ is the the third release off the new album which has to be one of the most hotly anticipated releases of the year, certainly in the antipodean outpost of Backseat Mafia. The track is a soft jangly reflective reverie, with Robert Scott’s vocals yearning and melancholic and a bedrock of strings in the distance. It is a floating ethereal track that portrays another side of the band: something restrained and infused with emotion and deep reflection.
The beautifully shot video accompanying the track shot by Martin Sagadin perfectly captures the vivid poignancy of the song in rich colours. It was shot on location at Grubb Cottage in Ōhinehou, Ōtautahi Grubb, and features band members Paul Kean and Kaye Woodward, as well as film-makers and musicians Annabel Kean (Sports Team) and Callum Devlin (Sports Team, Hans Pucket).
A perfect salve for an imperfect world. Out now and available vias all the usual download and streaming sites, the track anticipates the new album following earlier stunning singles ‘Lucky Day’ and ‘Loline’, and is available to pre-order now here and through the link below.
‘Corner Coming Up’ was recorded at Chicks Studio in Port Chalmers by Flying Nun legend, Tex Houston, and is out digitally, and on peach or black vinyl LP and CD on 17th October 2025 via Flying Nun Records.
The Bats formed in Christchurch in 1982. The quartet — Robert Scott, Kaye Woodward, Paul Kean and Malcolm Grant — has held the same lineup for over four decades, perhaps making them the longest‑standing unchanged band in Aotearoa history. They first emerged on the Flying Nun label in the early ’80s, blending jangly guitars and rich melodies that would come to influence alternative rock in New Zealand and around the world.
