“Bands don’t come much more likable than Custard. They're funny, carefree, slightly weird but very endearing. And they write better pop songs than just about anyone.” -The J Files, Double J
Australian indie pop statesmen Custard unveil new single ‘In The Grand Scheme Of Things (None Of This Really Matters)’, the sweeping opener to their seventh album The Common Touch, coming Oct 6 through ABC Music.
The Sydney-via-Brisbane gents have clearly been busy since their 2015 release Come Back All Is Forgiven, which fans waited 16 years for. The Common Touch, far from sounding like a hasty sequel, is a highly polished and expansive affair that explores diverse themes, and is replete with adventurous arrangements.
Featuring the classic lineup of frontman David McCormack, drummer Glenn Thompson, bass player Paul Medew and guitarist Matthew Strong, the album was recorded in Leichhardt, Botany and Bexley, mixed in Marrickville and mastered in Ventura California.
Says McCormack: “I wrote all my songs for the album in November and December 2016 in a small room in Bexley with only one window. The window faced east. There was not much to look at so lyrically I focused on the tiny little things (a photograph in a drawer/"get well" cards) and the massive big things (the universe/existence/death).
“Come Back All Is Forgiven was the sound of us playing together in a small room, minimal overdubs. The new album has cello, pedal steel, piano and a variety of backing singers. Some of the tunes were cut up and stitched back together in ways I never thought possible.”
When mixing the album, Thompson realised “…it was truly an evolutionary leap for the band, while still somehow managing to sound exactly the same as before.”
