Earning themselves a solid reputation for their heartfelt, honest, and relatable brand of the authentic indie-roots pop over the past few years, Rach Brennan & The Pines are back in full force revealing ‘Sirens’, their first single of 2020.
‘Sirens’ sees the band dive into bolder and darker territory. Beginning with an instantly engaging melody, championed by velvety vocals, lush production, and a spellbinding rhythm section, the track is a mysterious and seductive introduction to the year.
With nods to the likes of Arctic Monkeys, the rock and indie influences surge and flourish through the track, highlighting each individual’s contributions and demonstrating the band’s ability to twist the genre of their music to make it their own. Most prominent at the three-minute mark, it’s the vocal harmonies accompanied by the band (including brother Liam Brennan and partner Levi Anderson) which further emphasizes the mesmeric capacity of this young band.
“I wrote this song a few years ago, right after we had recorded our album Here’s to Better Times & Seeing Better Places, and I remember feeling as though it was written by someone else,” frontwoman Rach explains. “Here’s to Better Times & Seeing Better Places as a record is this fizzy, sunny and joyful expression of coming into womanhood. I look at ’Sirens’ as the ‘come down’ to that period.
“I came to the band with the bones of the song, chords, lyrics, and melody – which is usually the case. We were rehearsing late at night at Kubu in Geelong, a big dark and cold warehouse. I played the song for the guys and it came together pretty quick. For me the most magical moment was when Cam added the keys, they are so eerie. It was so washy and loud in that space, I felt like I was underwater.”
Much like their previous releases ‘Hindsight’, ‘I Wanna See You’ and ‘Weapon of Love’, ‘Sirens’ boasts passionate heartfelt lyrics, this time surrounding notions of women’s liberation and gender stereotypes.
“I found the theme of sirens coming up a lot in my writing and was fascinated with how feminine and powerful they are portrayed – mythical dominatrixes of the sea,” Rachael explains. “I was really battling at the time with how I could be both empowered and confident as a woman – those qualities, particularly in the music industry felt quite masculine. As young girls we are raised to be apologetic and modest: be assertive, but only if it doesn’t upset anyone else, be confident but not conceited, be ambitious but don’t try too hard. ‘Sirens’ is my little protest to this narrative.”
Clocking in at just under five minutes, ‘Sirens’ is a testament to the band’s growth over the last few years. Having released their debut album last year – which Rach described as an accumulation of everything that had happened in the few years prior – the band has been busy touring, travelling, celebrating, and most recently, working on new music.
“We have so much new music! I am just waiting until we can all be in the same room together so we can get in the studio and record,” Rach explains. “Sonically, the other new songs may not be as similar to this single, but I feel that it’s definitely got a maturity to it.
On reflection, what makes Here’s to Better Times & Seeing Better Places so special to me is that it’s a celebration of naivety. The naivety of falling in and out of love with someone, with yourself, with the world and how being young gives you the excuse to dive in. Both in a songwriting sense and as an artist, I feel the next chapter to be more deliberate.”
While ‘Sirens’ only just dropped on Spotify today, the band initially released the track exclusively to Bandcamp earlier in the week, an independent platform known for its ethos of artistic control and autonomy, typically collecting only 15% of sales from digital music and 10% from physical goods.
“Given today’s tendencies for arts to be seen as more disposable by the larger streaming services – we’re standing in solidarity with artists who are having a rough time with no income from performing and little shown support from the big guys,” Rachael explains.
“If you’re able to at this time we invite you to engage more intimately with your favourite artists. Find ways to make sure your hard-earned dollar makes it into their pockets via more artist-friendly platforms.”
If you’re keen to support these local muso’s, today is the day to do it, with Bandcamp waiving their revenue share on all sales until midnight tonight. With this, Bandcamp ensures your money lands in artists’ pockets within 24-48 hours of making your purchase, meaning your dollars will reach musicians when they need it most!
You can visit the bands Bandcamp page, and also stream ‘Sirens’ via Spotify.
Photo by Joshua Maxwell de Hoog
