Technicolor, breezy, shimmery synths. Nick Allbrook dancing around a desert with a mylar blanket.
The Australian psych group, Pond released their single “Daisy” with production from former member and Tame Impala frontman, Kevin Parker. “Daisy” is the third single and second video released for Pond’s upcoming album.
Slow to start, Allbrook sings emotively over strings, a crash sample teases the existence of a drum kit. The lyrics drastically contrast line-by-line; first an ode to the beauty of spring, then “the legs are out, and the bronzed chests,” speaking to human vanity next to “and fires bejewelling the south west.” Wildfires, natural indicators of climate change, painted sublime when compared to gemstones.
Perhaps to get their message out to a larger audience, Parker’s mix is dance-y, and the track is closer to dream pop than psychedelic, especially when compared to 2017’s The Weather. While it is a pleasant six-minute groove, there’s not much that changes in the track once the tension from an ambient build breaks, and electronic drums set in.
Recontextualized, the single off their upcoming full-length, Tasmania, “coats an undercurrent of restless, anxious dread in a sheen of light, apathetic content – both real and parody,” both following the concept behind the new record and adding to the surf of the 80’s wave trend of drum machines and detachment (SPIN).
The festival aesthetic, the carefree dancing and the heat blanket all help to contribute to the commentary on humanity ignoring the global environmental crisis.
Pond has already exposed pop music sensibilities on previous albums, particularly on Frond (2010), but as always, the lyrics are poetic and conceptually strong. In the face of ecological destruction, “Jimmy grabs a beer, we wash our hands in the creek // Ooh, talk is cheap.”
