Ascendent Alt-Noise Outfit Twine Share Evocative New Single ‘Future Exhales’ And Conor Mercury-directed Clip

[Naarm/Melbourne, Friday 23 August 2024] Ascendent alt-noise quintet Twine mark winter’s end with an incendiary bang: ‘Future Exhales’ is one of the first songs written in their current line-up configuration; a clip directed by Conor Mercury (Carla Geneve, The Empty Threats, Ricky Albeck) accompanies the release. 

A visceral reflection on health refracted through the lens of nicotine dependency and the trauma of a car crash sustained in adolescence, the single meditates on the desire to look after the temple of your body, disrupted by the ever-present possibility of catastrophe. The track also sees Twine reunite with mixing engineer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo De Souza), who personally reached out to the band to work together.

Pacier than their previous entries into the modern country-gaze canon, ‘Future Exhales’ solidifies Twine’s reputation for cathartic songcraft, which expertly grafts together moments of tension and release. Steadily layering melody and noise, the ensemble builds to a caterwaul, then, a prick of spurs, a tightening of the reins: we return to a soft landing, ready to climb again.

Written at a time when vocalist/guitarist Tom was listening to lots of Sparklehorse, the track is representative of Twine’s dynamic, collaborative practice, forming the bones of a song from small fragments brought by different members.

Violinist Thea (she/they) says, “Writing the violin part, I wanted to experiment with more riff-based violin arranging as opposed to solely textural parts. In the verses, I play three riff motifs - beginning with sustained chords, then pulling from Tom’s guitar part, to matching the rhythm of Matt’s guitar part. I like the effect of the violin moving sonically across the band.”

The track’s accompanying clip – directed by Conor Mercury – captures the intoxicating energy of the band's live show, which has seen them score slots alongside believed acts such as Bad//Dreems, Dust, Mini Skirt, The Belair Lip Bombs, Grace Cummings, Armlock and VOIID. Several cameras capture the band, including one with a 20mm lens and another with a fisheye, with footage and still imagery interspersed to facilitate the erratic rhythm of the edit.

Mercury shares, “This clip was shot outside of Interim Studios in the city. A prominent part of the studios’ facade is work from local artist Hari Koutlakis so, with his permission, I incorporated his work into the edit itself. Nash Blight took stills that we used to dictate the flow of the edit and match with the footage.”

WATCH: Twine ‘Future Exhales’

Video Credits:

Directed by Conor Mercury

B Cam by Sam Nicholls

Film photography by Nash Blight

Edited by Kadison Noack/Conor Mercury

Special thanks to Interim Studios

The space in between country, noise rock and post rock is occupied by Twine, a five-piece from Kaurna land/Adelaide, South Australia. Combining brittle and jagged eruptions of noise with empathetic rests, Twine ebb and flow in an exploration of emotion-driven and structured experimentation.

Drawing inspiration from current contemporaries such as Wednesday (US), Sprain (US) and Chat Pile (US) as well as heritage acts like The Dirty Three (AUS), Unwound (US), The Drones (AUS) and Songs: Ohia (US), the group pay homage to their influences with originality and earnestness.

Twine's invigorating take on Australian post-punk has been met with praise from Apple Music's Matt Wilkinson, The Fader, Rolling Stone, POST-TRASH and Tone Deaf, among many others. Local champions include FBi Radio (who highlighted the group as Independent Artist of the Week earlier this year), triple j (with ‘Same Old Problems’ topping the Unearthed charts on release week) and double j, plus community radio across the country including Triple R, 4ZZZ, PBS, 2SER and RTR.

‘Future Exhales’ is the Twine's first new offering since 2023’s ‘My God’, which premiered on The Fader. Since it's release, Twine continue to rise, showcasing at BIGSOUND – the Southern Hemisphere’s largest music industry conference and showcase festival – last September, touring with mclusky (US), and crossing the ditch for a string of dates in Aotearoa/New Zealand, including a spellbinding appearance at Camp A Low Hum. The group will take their live show to SXSW Sydney this October.

Combining violin with guitar, bass and drums in an exploration of texture and disharmony by all instruments, Twine is not one to miss.

‘Future Exhales’ credits:

Recorded by Matt Schultz at Interim Studios

Mixed by Alex Farrar at Drop of Sun Studios

Mastered by Greg Obis at The Chicago Mastering Service

Twine is:

Tom Katsaras (he/him): Vocals, guitar

Jackson Pagett (he/him): Drums

Alicia Salvanos (they/them): Bass

Matt Schultz (they/them): Guitar

Thea Martin (they/she): Violin

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