We feel very privileged to bring you the premiere of ‘Separate Beds’, the single from Meanjin/Brisbane outfit, Start Together, a new signing to the esteemed 4000 Records label.
Opening with nary an introduction and launching straight in, ‘Separate Beds’ has a rapid guitar-driven pace with Start Together effecting a Pulp-like delivery, a kind of wry Britpop era indie pop with an antipodean flavour. There are touches of The Apartments or early The Go-Betweens but also an Antarctic new wave chill to the sound. The louche distant observant vocals are poised and elegant, the instrumentation urgent and melodic and the lyrics cool and poetic:
Superficially cling to notions
Stay abrasive
Be conclusive
You’ve never missed no one
Love is foolishly bandied around
Out in the running of your own design
Lyricist Gerard takes inspiration from themes explored by authors Françoise Sagan in ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ and André Breton in ‘Nadja’. The lines ‘love is foolishly bandied around’ were lifted from the former, while ‘out in the running’ and ‘your echo abounds’ from the latter.
These lines express youthful doubt and foolish optimism, respectively, both of which are representations of suppressed insecurity and vulnerability with being in love.
This is superb fare and a perfect fit for 4000 Records:
‘Separate Beds’ is out on 2 June 2023 through the glorious 4000 Records and you can pre-save here.
This is Start Together’s first release since 2019, and it is worth catching their back catalogue, particularly the spectacular ‘Az Nem Várhat’:
Feature Photograph: Madeline Randall
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