With their next studio album due this spring, Brisbane indie rockers Ball Park Music showcase another sunburst of pure indie pop songwriting in the form of 'Cherub'.
"Cherub had a long, slow evolution," frontman Sam Cromack says."The main tune had been kicking around for years and it was Dean [Hanson, guitar] who implored me to develop it into a song.
"A chorus came together pretty quickly. It was pure escapism; it felt easy to imagine a character who runs away and rips a phone number from a flyer to start a new life.
"The song was building with a very optimistic tone, but it didn't feel quite right," continues Sam.
"It felt off-balance, too starry-eyed. The platypus was waiting for the Queen. I sat by the water for a long time with no verses.
"I remember sitting in the rocking chair with my daughter one day, lulling her to sleep. Forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards.
"I have done this many times of course, and I often find myself slipping into this strange, ruminative zone. Forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards.
"On this particular occasion, I was in luck. While we both moved in silence, unsure of who was putting who to sleep, the words suddenly strung themselves together in my head.
"I left her room, tip-toeing across the finish line with a song called 'Cherub'; a song that looks curiously inward until, finally, it implodes, collapsing violently in on itself and leaving shimmering debris as far as the eye can see."
The accompanying music video for 'Cherub' features a saturation of butterflies captured on film by the group's home-schooled lepidopterist, Dean.
"I think it’s safe to say, that when the nation first went into lockdown in March this year we all examined our living quarters more closely than ever before," Sam says.
"Amidst the chaos and suffering of the world, Dean found the opportunity to focus on the little things and noticed that his garden was absolutely rife with butterflies.
"After a little research, we discovered that ideal weather conditions in Queensland had produced an explosive butterfly migration.
"With f... all to do, Dean spent his days in the yard with his camera, chasing butterflies and channelling his inner Attenborough.
"When he shared his efforts with the band we were blown away by the simple beauty of what we saw and knew instantly that it should accompany one of our songs."
'Ball Park Music' album is slated for release 23 October, 2020. Click here to pre-order.
