The new single from Sydney band Imperial Broads, ‘Another Planet’ sees a slight divergence from their earlier single ‘Control’ (reviewed by me here) into a more reflective two-speed sixties-infused dream pop serving: something more restrained, swapping leather jackets for prom dresses and beehive hairdos while maintaining the swagger and pose.
A swooning hypnotic start is quickly dispelled by the trademark jangling guitars and echoing backing vocals with an spacey interlude between verses. The shifting pace is quite trippy and psychedelic, the song ending with a sinuous, supple and haunting saxophone climbing over the fuzzy guitars.
Pip Smith says of the track:
On the surface, the song’s about whimsy, how it’s really an escape route to ‘Planet B’ (which could be one’s imagination, or even, more literally, the afterlife, if we’ve already decided to opt out of this life) when Planet A seems too hard. Planet B might not necessarily be an improvement, but yearning to go there might be enough.
Smith pays dues to the doo-whop backing:
I was once in a girl group cover band, and I still love that genre, so I had The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes in mind when writing this song – but the sweetness slips and gives way to something darker/grittier.
The shifting paces does creates an element of unease while the saxophone ending has a fifties detective novel noir about it.
You can stream the album here or get directly from the artist through the link below:
Imperial Broads have also announced the release of their album ‘Counterpart’ on 24 September 2021 through Broken Stone Records/Remote Control Records and can be pre-ordered in a variety of formats below.
