Melbourne's Pretty Bleak release complex new-wave /shoegaze single, 'like you know better'
Photo by Tom Thomas
Melbourne’s answer to The 1975, new-wave dream rockers PRETTY BLEAK deliver a new single in ‘like you know better’, a sparkling, seething belter of a song, inspired by a conversation with the reflection in the mirror.
PRETTY BLEAK, consisting of friends Sam Thomas, Sanji Aneja, Cherie Bridgman and Kyle Charleston, have been carefully honing their craft since the release of their 2021 EP BLOOD. In their latest offering, they’ve managed to craft a complex song with so many folds, coming across as a musical equivalent of a Viennetta dessert. Tasty.
‘like you know better’ dips straight into the nu-new wave pool; it’s drenched in layers of synths, and basically lets the drums take as many lead breaks as the guitars. Vocalist Sam Thomas’s vocals burn throughout the track with such an 80s pop vibe, at times letting some of the slight ocker sneak out. At its heart, ‘like you know better’ is a far more complex song, structurally, than it may have looked on the surface, with A LOT of prog and shoe- gaze elements blending in to this sound, without all the pomp that prog has associated with it, making it sound like a blend of Kisschasey, MGMT and Mute Math. The blanket of synths awash with neon buzz make it worth a listen on its own.
There’s genuinely something here for all true music fans – just one listen proves that this band have an inherent understanding of compositional techniques and skilfully use this to bend genres to create something totally unique.
Produced alongside Jonathon Tooke of the pop-punk duo Cry Club, and mixed by Andy D. Park (Deftones, Death Cab For Cutie), like you know better explores a person’s self-talk, as Sam explains, “The lyrics are supposed to be a conversation with myself while having a moment of introspective realisation. When I’m writing lyrics, my goal is to try and distil an emotion into words without explicitly using emotional language. With ‘like you know better’, the landscape I’m trying to detail is that of self-doubt and the process of figuring out what you’re doing with yourself in a time where there is no clear direction.”
PRETTY BLEAK, formed during Sam, Sanji and Kyle’s high school years, plan to release more music this year beyond like you know better. With the addition of Cherie Bridgman, PRETTY BLEAK have reached their final form. There has never been uncertainty amongst PRETTY BLEAK about their dedication to the craft, as Sam says, “Speaking for myself, there hasn’t been a moment in my life that I can remember where doing music as a career wasn’t what I wanted. I think everyone else in the band has had a similar experience to varying degrees. We’ve all been playing in bands and making music since we were really young.”
Wrap your ears around this new track today. ‘like you know better’ is streaming on all platforms now.
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