ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM BARNYARD OUT OCT 22 + SIGN TO SUB POP PUBLISHING

PRAISE FOR GOOD MORNING

“Everything’s looking good for Good Morning”
Billboard

“The music has the easiness you feel looking out at the ocean”
Broadsheet

“More intricate production and a voice from singer Liam Parsons on ‘Keep It’
that sounds distinctly like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy”
NME

“Chill and organic indie rock, but there are some slight stylistic differences
due to each member taking lead vocals on some Lennon-McCartney shit…”
Stereogum

“Good Morning are on the move, thanks in part to their ability to render
regret’s aches and pains in such soothing song”
Paste Magazine

“These are warm, inviting songs made for long drives on sunny afternoons”
Frankie Magazine

“Gloriously catchy dessert rock”
Pilerats

Today Naarm / Melbourne based duo Good Morning announce their forthcoming record Barnyard via Polyvinyl out this October 22, with their latest single ‘Country‘. LISTEN + WATCH HERE – no chickens were harmed in the making of this video.

If there’s one thing we’ve come to expect from Good Morning‘s output, it’s their staggered, separate but only possible with the help of the other, approach to songwriting between members Liam Parsons and Stefan Blair. Written and sung by Liam, new release ‘Country‘ persists in spite of its appeal to return to a simpler, easier way of being. Introduced with a polyrhythmic melody, guitar, synth and percussive elements enter slowly, layered and growing gently almost like a battery on charge. What the duo establish here, without a lyric yet sung, is a stirring emotive force that distils the impressions, analyses and impact of pivotal life moments into a string of chords, as immediately transportative to their memory and moment in time, as a single pinprick.

‘Country‘s pensive refrain sees Liam reflect on his younger desires, wants and needs, and how they panned out into adulthood. He explains, “I’m still not sure if I’m singing to old friends, an old lover or my old self. I think probably all three. At the time, I was having a rough one reconciling my life with what I had expected adult life to be. I knew that my younger self – a more virtuous, kind-hearted and patient person – would be perplexed by how I had turned out, and I felt a kind of second-hand embarrassment for myself looking over the last few years of false starts and dead ends.This song is an attempt from me to reconnect with my younger self as well as some key ghosts from my past and to move forward by looking back – pretty futile stuff really.”

WATCH: ‘Country’ (Official Music Video)

It’s a feeling as universal as it is instantly understood, with lines such as “You know that I’m incapable of changing / Some people just get stuck in their ways / Never thought it’d be me like this / I was meant to be brave,” that see Parsons deliver a vocal performance comparable to Brandon Flowers and Dave Le’aupepe, with lyrics just as authentic and meditative. Visually, ‘Country‘ is brought to life against a recurring backdrop of Liam’s childhood, the 1st Eltham Scouts Hall. “I was always too embarrassed to admit that I was a scout to my school friends, the same way I was too embarrassed to admit that I got piano lessons. Both of those things are ridiculous. Scouts is cool and so are piano lessons” he shares. Directed and produced by Aidan McDonald, ‘Country‘s music video sees Good Morning joined on stage by a swag of friends and peers that bring the two-piece into full band mode; with members of local outfits, Cool Sounds and Skydeck, to arts and culture writers Shaad D’Souza and Greer Clemens trading pens for instruments, and more.

Of its making, Aidan McDonald reveals “Besides the performance itself, a ton of meticulous detail can go into a music video, though it’s not so often people get to see what’s happening behind the camera. We wanted to embrace the contrivance of performance music videos in general. Here we are with a bunch of lights, cameras, food and crew that we’re spending money on, why not place all of that on display rather than just the band playing.” Completing ‘Country‘s release and the reveal of Barnyard today, Good Morning also share the news of their signing to Sub Pop Publishing. “We’re so happy to be working with Sub Pop publishing going forward,” says Liam. “Over the course of several Zooms and even a few rounds of beers in Seattle, Gareth and the crew have proven themselves to be kind, enthusiastic music lovers and we’re thrilled to know that our lil’ songs are in safe hands.” Gareth Smith, Vice President/General Manager of Sub Pop Publishing continues, “We love Good Morning and we couldn’t be more stoked to be working with them!” 

Good Morning are rulebreakers. Not in a sexy, flamboyant way – more in a casual, resigned kind of way. Accidental and incidental rulebreakers. The creation and release of their sixth album, Barnyard, is the result of a process of patient refinement and the breaking of a couple of self-imposed rules. Thoughtful, catchy, idiosyncratic, and nearly twice the average length of their back catalogue, it’s all the things one might love about Good Morning, this time around presented with the fat trimmed and the edges sharpened. Recorded at Wilco’s famed studio The Loft, for the first time in a long time the record was made with the help of an outside engineer and will see an international release on a record label not operated by a friend, but instead, Polyvinyl, joining the likes of Alvvays, Julia Jacklin, STRFKR, Kero Kero Bonito and more. A milestone in the history of the band it’s also their most meditative record, thoughtful and careful in its evocations. Not too little and not too much, it’s just right – just Good Morning.

BARNYARD LP
by Good Morning
out Oct 22
PRE-ORDER HERE

‘Country‘ is out now, buy/stream it here.

Stay connected with Good Morning:
Official Website | Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp | Facebook