Sunshine Coast misfits, ChAMBER LANe balance the what if's and the here and now in latest single, 'Familiar Faces'

Sunshine Coast’s eternal misfits, ChAMBER LANe return with another cracking single, ‘Familiar Faces’, which tackles the paradox of wishing things were the way there used to be, whilst embracing the here and now.

The new track, recorded at Glasshouse Studios, encapsulates that yearning for life to be simpler, avoiding the chaos of today with slowing fading memories of yesterday, with the band describing the song as a ‘Slap in the Face moment’, realising that right now, as they graduate from their teens, is the time to make the most of life.

‘Familiar Faces’ once again shows ChAMBER LANe’s knack for crafting clever hooks, and generating a mainstream sound, while still harbouring some rebellious pub rock larrikinisms. You could be forgiven for being lulled in to what starts to sound like a brit-pop ballad, acoustic guitar strumming and chorused-out electric, with frontman Connor vocally echoing the overall sentiment, but that all changes, unveiling a catchy alt-pop/rock thumper, complete with a chorus of ‘oooo’s’. It’s reminiscent of the UK outfit, Ash, particularly the ‘1977’ album-era. It’s fun, with a whiff of attitude and nostalgia.

This song stems from the band’s bass player; Josiah’s experience moving from Perth WA to Sunshine Coast QLD back when he finished primary school. He explains that “As a teenager turning into an adult, whenever I got overwhelmed I’d just wish I could go back to my old home with my old friends because it felt easier and simpler. It felt like a slap in the face one night when I was writing this song, I just started thinking ‘you idiot, your life is good, you’ve got some great friends and some awesome opportunities right now’. That’s where the song pivoted from pure reminiscing to owning who I am and enjoying my life”

Expanding on this, frontman Connor describes the song as “appreciating the beauty that’s going on around us before it’s already gone, not wasting the best memories of your life whilst you’re living them. In a society that feels so driven by “what’s next?” or “what was?” it feels refreshing to simply enjoy what is right in front of us.”

Along with this new upbeat rock song instead of the originally intended ballad-type tune, the chorus quotes popular TV-Show The Office: “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.” This describes that feeling of life’s different seasons and moving on whilst embracing what has been. Josiah also explains “ I didn’t even know that Andy (The Office) says right after that quote ‘Someone should write a song about that.’ and that just blew my mind”.

The song ends with the chant “the new thing becomes the old thing.” It’s pretty simple: life changes, people change but we get older. ChAMBER LANe’s new song embraces living your life so that one day you can call now “the good old days”

Feeling nostalgic? Go spin ‘Familiar Faces’ now, which is streaming on all digital platforms.