Sydney’s Dande and The Lion go straight for the jugular with their latest hard-hitting indie-pop single, ‘Harder To Breathe’; a high energy, empowering dancefloor alt-pop cut.

The new single, which shines the light on the dual vocal deliveries of Abbey Gardner and Natassa Zoe, follows on from the recent successful release, ‘Cheap Choice’.

‘Harder To Breathe’ cuts straight to the chase, bringing hard-edged alt-pop dance rock, and cleverly crafted 80s-tinged production. The balance created with a more organic (but still heavily pumping) drum tone - which becomes the MVP of the track - and dropping the guitars a little lower in the mix, while letting the bass and synth really drive, and also boosting vocalist Abbey’s intense vocal takes, which borderline in to fun indie diva moments when the delay is cranked. ‘Harder To Breathe’ is layered just right, bringing in big spotlight moments without losing momentum. It’s super-empowering, dancefloor-ready, sweaty goodness.

Of the track, Abbey explains that it is about reflecting on a time when you were influenced to a point where you no longer recognise yourself.

“It’s acknowledging that this person changed your core, but you’re not going to let it happen again because you can see now that their influence wasn’t coming from a place of love,” she said.

The song is further elevated by the dreamy production from ARIA-nominated, Xavier Dunn (Jack River, GRAACE), as well as the mix and master by Klaus Hill (Masked Wolf).

“I remember having a d&m session with the band about the situation, and having them all hype me up. Shortly after, we were jamming on Harder to Breathe and the lyrics just flowed so easily. Harder to Breathe originally started being created while we were listening to a lot of Tigertown’s

music, especially ‘Lonely Cities’. We wanted to try writing a song with an anti-chorus and once we started jamming on the idea, the song wrote itself.” - Abbey Gardner

The band have been creating music together since 2017, playing over 100+ shows in acclaimed venues along the Australian east coast, such as Oxford Art Factory (main stage), Factory Theatre, the Lansdowne Hotel and the Workers Club. Their musicianship has developed over the years, recently releasing new singles that have caught the attention of Triple J (Home & Hosed), MTV (Upload of the Week), and online street press.

‘Harder To Breathe’ is out now on all streaming platforms.