PREMIERE: Grand Prismatic – ‘Footscray and Fancy Free’

Grand Prismatic have been pretty quiet since the release of their debut album, Birds and Beasts, back in 2012. They have been dabbling, mind you – a couple of tracks came out early last year, and singer Brendan Clarkson and percussionist David Freudenstein both featured on the Peking Tapes compilation that we reviewed last week.

But today they’re back with the first single off their forthcoming EP: an ode to Melbourne’s inner west called ‘Footscray and Fancy Free’. The track comes on strong right from the start with a swaggering intro, before slowing to a folksy canter that has the cheerful circularity of a drinking song.

Grand Prismatic show a different kind of chutzpah here than on the Supergrass-style kook of earlier single ‘Bells Will Ring’. The new one’s all about the sing-alongs and the horn accompaniments, the whole circus led by Clarkson’s eccentric vocal (think Tim from Dappled Cities, minus the acrobatics). Expect some more bombast from these guys soon – the Footscray and Fancy Free EP is due out in March.

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