Naarm Art-rock Quartet Think About You Drop 'Don't Die On Me', The Title Track From Their Upcoming LP (out August 16)

Naarm/Melbourne art-rockers Think About You (AKA TAY) unveil their infectious new single 'Don't Die On Me'. Out today, it's the title track from their upcoming album, arriving August 16, independently.

Inspired by a car breakdown en route to the surf coast, the song – which features Ferguson and Van Daatselaar on shared lead vocals – captures the raw panic of relying on a trusty (but possibly unreliable) vehicle in less than ten words. “Don’t die on me / you’re my everything”, the duo sing to Ferguson’s Nissan Pulsar, their sleepy, yearning vocals folding into sunny strings, melodic guitar and bouncing bass. 'Don't Die On Me' has already become a fan favourite, with audiences singing along at shows and the band even offering a "screamo version" for good measure.

“There were times when we thought about adding more lyrics [to the song], but a great story can be told with such few words,” TAY share.

The accompanying music video, shot by Van Daatselaar in a Brunswick park with a stellar city view, oozes grainy nostalgia. Each band member performs directly to the camera, the backdrop a mix of the cityscape and photos by Sonny Witton capturing fleeting moments of everyday beauty. The footage itself was filmed on Van Daatselaar’s dad's old camera, then re-recorded through an old TV, emphasising the video's raw and nostalgic aesthetic.

Think About You comprises members Vindi Ferguson (vocals, violin), D’arcy Noonan (vocals, guitar), Jasper Van Daatselaar (vocals, bass, trumpet) and Declan Blackburn (drums), known for their contributions to Kisses, Big Farmer, Birdpop, Sour Worm, Mouseatouille and Harry Permezel, alongside TAY. They each write their own parts and lyrics, creating a coalescence of distinct voices and points of view that’s equal to a sum greater than its parts.

Think About You catapulted into the local music scene in 2021 after Australian Music Hall of Fame inductee Mary Mihelakos heard an iPhone recording of ‘Isaac’ (demo) on Bandcamp, booking them for their first show. TAY self-released their debut album Taxi Kids the following year, turning down a lucrative international record deal for their 2024 follow-up – opting to release their music independently and firmly rooted in their local community.

Recorded at Rolling Stock Studios in Collingwood with ARIA winner Nao Anzai (Cash Savage, Floodlights, Mildlife), Don’t Die On Me expands on a sound that STEW Magazine calls a “unique blend of Celtic folk and Australian garage punk”, evocative of The Goon Sax, intertwined with the wild, runaway instrumentation of Dirty Three.

Lyrically, the album works to repurpose trauma; lived dramas re-created and transformed through destructive and reparative noise.

The band share, “We are co-collaborators, “reducible neither to the One nor the multiple” (Plateaus 22). The record, a haunting road trip through so-called Australia. This metaphor refers to the temporal and spatial networks of representation that are underground, that are, submerged.

So first, we dive in.”

© Scoop Media