Throughout the course of this site’s history, I’ve written quite a bit about POND, the recording project of Perth, Australia-based multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and producer Jay Watson. The project has a long history of Watson collaborating with a rotating cast of local musicians, including Tame Impala‘s creative mastermind Kevin Parker. Interestingly, his first three albums — 2009’s Psychedelic Mango, 2010’s Frond and his 2012 breakthrough effort Beard, Wives, Denim found Watson’s sound moving from straightforward psych rock to a decidedly pop-leaning sound. Now, as you may recall, Watson’s breakthrough album Frond was released in the same year as Tame Impala’s breakthrough album Innerspeaker and with the attention both albums received, there was a growing buzz around Australia’s burgeoning psych pop scene that found Watson and his touring band with a busy international touring schedule that included an appearance at SXSW and a one-off show with CAN‘s Damo Suzuki, a major influence on Watson and his sound.
2017’s The Weather received near unanimous praise across the blogosphere, as the album continued Watson’s ongoing collaboration with Tame Impala’s Parker while further cementing the Perth-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer/songwriter’s precaution for crafting trippy yet accessible pop.
The expansive and cosmic “Burnt Out Star,” is the first bit of new material from POND since the release of The Weather and the track begins with a slow-burning and lysergic opening sequence featuring twinkling keys, shimmering guitars and synths and dreamy harmonizing that may bring JOVM mainstays Pavo Pavo to mind before slowly shifting gears towards a section with an upbeat, motorik groove with buzzing synths and thumping beats and bluesy guitar blasts. Structurally, the song, which runs a little over 8 minutes manages to nod at Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts I-V and VI-IX” but centered around the aforementioned shimmering synths and propulsive beats, making it deceptively arena rock friendly.
Interestingly, the track comes with the announce of a lengthy North American headlining tour during October and November, which includes a November 8, 2018 stop at Elsewhere. Check out the tour dates below.
