Single Review: Carousel

Here we have the latest single from Wellington-based Anxiety Club, taken from the forthcoming album Old Dreams, but anyone expecting more of their guitar-led music is going to be in for quite a surprise as there has been a major shift in their sound, caused by circumstance as much as by design. Like many bands unable to perform or tour over the pandemic, they used the downtime to focus on new songs, but that was not their only issue. “Our drummer had just moved to Christchurch, the bass player had also left town, our rehearsal space was about to get bulldozed and I was nursing a pretty bad arm injury – I couldn’t even play guitar!” said lead singer, Kev Fitzsimons. This led to serious discussions between himself and keyboard player Clint Meech as to what the future held (and whether the universe was trying to tell them something), and they decided to undertake the album by utilising more synths and call in some mates to give them a hand. This included Chris Armour (Miles Calder) who has been the group’s guitarist since late 2018 and bassist Andrew Bain (Fur Patrol), while Zach Simao (an LA-based drummer) added beats and percussion and singer Maygen Lacey (also in the US) provided the vocal arrangements.

I don’t know if the whole album is going to sound like this, but what we have here is atmospheric dream pop which takes the listener into a whole new world. There are layers of keyboards as the support, delicate bass and nuanced guitar, wonderful harmonies, all there to provide the support for Kev’s vocals. It is the atmosphere which really lifts this as it is all encompassing, and the very slight lift in the guitars near the end provides a much-needed contrast to the incredibly polished production. This never sounds like an independent release and is a long way from the genres I normally review which makes it incredibly hard for comparisons but is the sort of song I would have expected to hear high in the charts back in the early 80’s, back when synth-based pop was on the rise. Melodic and restrained, this is music to relax into, as it takes the listener on a soft and gentle journey away from the trials and tribulations of daily life.