Australia’s CITY CALM DOWN have returned with their new single TELEVISION.
Recorded with producer Burke Reid [Courtney Barnett, The Drones, Julia Jacklin] TELEVISION is a prescient pop anthem for our times and is the Melbourne band’s first new material since the masterful ECHOES IN BLUE album in 2018. That same spirit and drive now finds CITY CALM DOWN hungrier than ever and determined to not repeat themselves on their forthcoming third album, due out later this year on I OH YOU.
Speaking about the track, Jack Bourke from CITY CALM DOWN said: “Television is inspired by the 1976 Sidney Lumet satire Network – an Oscar-winning howl of protest. Four decades on, Network’s bleak vision is more relevant than ever. Network is a dark satire about an anchorman who goes on a series of rants live on air after he loses his wife and finds out he’ll be fired. Even though it was released 40+ years ago, it feels more relevant than ever in the 24 hour news cycle world we live in. It was serendipitous that I stumbled across it the night I wrote Television.
“Although the lyrics touch on the same broad themes as Network, I’m not as deeply cynical about the impact of media in our lives. One of the best opportunities we have is to engage with the abundance of outstanding art that’s being produced. At the same time, there’s a lot of absolute crap, whether in television or other media, and it gets a lot more attention than it deserves. Culturally, this dulls our senses to what’s true and beautiful and we risk becoming more shallow and insular as a result.”
To accompany the new single, CITY CALM DOWN have announced a UK headline tour for September this year as part of their EU tour. Full dates as follows. Tickets on sale now via www.citycalmdown.com
SEPTEMBER
Wed 25 GLASGOW Oran Mor
Thu 26 NEWCASTLE Cluny 2
Fri 27 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Sat 28 MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen
Mon 30 LONDON Electrowerkz
Two albums and one EP in, CITY CALM DOWN’s accomplished songwriting has earned over 12 million streams on Spotify to date. Championed by Triple J in Australia – including a Like A Version that has generated almost half a million views on YouTube – the band’s ambitions have seen airplay on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music plus press coverage from the likes of NME, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, Clash, Consequence Of Sound, Indie Shuffle, The Independent and many more.
The list of singles is equally impressive: SON, RABBIT RUN, WANDERING, YOUR FIX and BORDER ON CONTROL from their 2015 assured debut IN A RESTLESS HOUSE; and BLOOD, IN THIS MODERN LAND, JOAN I’M DISAPPEARING and PRIDE from 2018’s unflinching ECHOES IN BLUE.
With TELEVISION, the band re-emerge with a new statement of intent and confidence.
