SYDNEY’S PASTURES
RETURN WITH DYNAMIC
NEW SINGLE ‘THE GARDEN’
Continuing to thrive off the back of a natural performance chemistry and innate feel for writing great melodies and hooks, Sydney indie five-piece Pastures serve up their next single and chapter with new single, ‘The Garden’.
Following on from their track ‘Sweet Desires’ earlier in 2023, Pastures build upon strong foundations here; ‘The Garden’ has been an opportunity for Pastures to push themselves in the studio, capturing rejuvenated energy under the guidance of co-producer and engineer, Oscar Saran (Coconut Cream).
Working with Saran out of his home studio in Sydney, Pastures hit upon a great rhythm and developed ‘The Garden’ in an organic way. Says songwriter Dylan Bender of their new single,
“Every song we recorded with Oscar (Saran) was such a treat, but we had a particularly fun time recording ‘The Garden’. Oscar really took a shine to this song, which was really nice, so we spent a fair bit of time experimenting with textures and tones to bring the song to life a bit. Tom [Pollock] has such a magic touch for a catchy indie guitar lead and I think that talent of his really shines on this track. Watching him lay down the lead parts was a joy.” DYLAN BENDER, PASTURES
“As the garden is one of our tracks where for the drums, less is more, it was an exciting project to really step back and focus the theme of the beat towards enhancing the emotion crafted by the harmonic elements, and really aid the transition from section to section in this lovely narrative. There isn’t really a repeating section of the drums throughout which I feel really allows the guitars, keys, vocals and bass to shine and lead whilst adding a necessary element of variation and movement. It’s a track that really plucks at the heartstrings, and all of the individualities we all bring to our instruments combine superbly.”
SAM CIMENTI, PASTURES
As they look ahead to a new year of music and opportunities, the release of ‘The Garden’ repositions Pastures as part of Sydney’s latest crop of fresh talent to be keeping one’s eye on. Where ‘Sweet Desires’ this year introduced the group to more audiences on their home turf, and to many others in other cities, Pastures is a band that has been building on their craft together since their debut in 2020.
Debut single ‘Losing Sleep’ was swiftly followed by ‘Farewell’ in 2020 and then ‘413’ in 2021; both tracks showing early potential from this group of musicians, as the core identity of the band was knitting together.
Coming through with a song like ‘Sweet Desires’ doubled as somewhat of a statement of intent and refreshed arrival for Pastures and here with ‘The Garden’, they prove that they know how to conjure the alchemy of insatiable indie rhythms and hooks, delivered with genuine personality and charm.
“This is the track that best captures that feeling of bittersweetness that is pretty common in our music – finding yourself between the joys, uncertainties, and sorrows in life and feeling somewhat bewildered as to how these sensations coexist so closely. I wrote the lyrics when I was 19 without being too sure of what exactly they meant at the time. All they could convey for me was some kind of feeling I couldn’t quite articulate.
Over time, I came to realise that is precisely what the song is about – a young man trying to make sense of the world he was growing into. I sat on this song for years before showing the guys, it just wasn’t quite right. Then one day I demoed it out and added a few touches that brought it to life before sending it off to the guys. I’m so glad I did, because with the contribution of my wonderful bandmates and Oscar Saran, the final product is something we are all really proud of.”
DYLAN BENDER, PASTURES
Single Artwork: Victoria Fernandez Jones
Original Photograph: Tom Pollock
‘THE GARDEN’ out now
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