We’re getting closer and closer to hearing Ball Park Music‘s forthcoming, self-titled album, which is due out in October. Today we get a new single (and accompanying video) from the indie rock faves titled ‘Cherub’.
It’s a slow-burner that’s deceptively sunny, at first buoyed by its delicate guitars and understated keyboards until it builds into a huge, searing yet joyous wall of sound around four minutes in. As with previous singles ‘Day & Age’ and ‘Spark Up’, all signs point towards an excellent sixth album from one of Australia’s most beloved bands.
Frontman Sam Cromack says ‘Cherub’ had a “long, slow evolution”, with its main tune kicking around for years before guitarist Dean Hanson implored him to develop it into a song. “A chorus came together pretty quickly. It was pure escapism; it felt easy to imagine a character who runs away and rips a phone number from a flyer to start a new life,” he explains.
“The song was building with a very optimistic tone, but it didn’t feel quite right. It felt off-balance, too starry-eyed. The platypus was waiting for the Queen. I sat by the water for a long time with no verses. I remember sitting in the rocking chair with my daughter one day, lulling her to sleep. Forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards. I have done this many times of course, and I often find myself slipping into this strange, ruminative zone.
“Forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards. On this particular occasion, I was in luck. While we both moved in silence, unsure of who was putting who to sleep, the words suddenly strung themselves together in my head. I left her room, tip-toeing across the finish line with a song called Cherub; a song that looks curiously inward until, finally, it implodes, collapsing violently in on itself and leaving shimmering debris as far as the eye can see.”
The video for ‘Cherub’ sees Hanson channel his inner Attenborough, chasing the butterflies that had become rife in his Queensland garden with a camera. It’s a simple beauty that suits the song to a tee – check it out below. Ball Park Music is out Friday, 23rd October.
