There’s a particular kind of confidence in a debut single that doesn’t sound like a debut single, and The Somedays have arrived with exactly that. The Queensland four-piece kick off their recording career with a Double A-side — ‘If I Could Start This Year Again’ and ‘Always On My Mind’ — that plants a flag firmly in the jangle-pop tradition without leaning on nostalgia as a crutch.
Recorded at Brisbane’s Airlock Studios, ‘If I Could Start This Year Again’ is the pick of the two as an introduction. It’s patient where a lot of first singles are impatient — content to let a mood settle before it asks for anything. Warm, layered vocals sit atop interlocking, shimmering guitar lines that owe an obvious debt to the classic Brisbane and Sydney jangle lineage; the touchstones are easy to hear and easy to believe — The Church’s widescreen melancholy, the ache of Ups & Downs, a little of The Stems’ garage-pop snap. The drumming holds itself back just enough to let the guitars do the emotional heavy lifting, before the whole thing tips over into a guitar solo that earns its climax rather than announcing it.
‘Always On My Mind’ is the more direct companion piece, and pairing the two as a Double A-side is a smart bit of sequencing — it gives the band room to show both the slow-burn and the hookier, more immediate side of what they do, rather than staking everything on one mode.
It has a faster pace and an anthemic chorus – pure powerful pop:
For a first outing, there’s a clarity of purpose here that’s easy to miss in how effortless it sounds. Nothing is overplayed, nothing is rushed to make a point — it’s a band trusting the song to do the work, which is rarer than it should be from a group this new. If this is the sound of The Somedays finding their feet, the writing and recording sessions reportedly still underway suggest there’s a lot more to look forward to. Watch this space.
You can stream the singles here and through the link below:
