Gold Coast indie-pop outfit Bligh’s new single, ‘Nissan Patrol’, is hook heavy and synth driven, and a coming-of-age track about finding your feet in life.
The upbeat pop number (that is released today, 19 April) marches to a similar beat as The Killers, with the crisp vocals of lead singer Elliott Baylis hinting at a young Tim Freedman (The Whitlams).
With a steadily growing fan base, the future appears to be bright for the five-piece. “['Nissan Patrol'] captures that bittersweet period when you gain your first taste of freedom with a P-plate, but you’re too young to go anywhere and too broke to do anything,” Elliott says.
“It is a lot different from [our previous single] ‘Mrs Jones’; there are a lot more layers to this one, and the production has come a long way.”
High school friends, Elliott was determined to find a group of like-minded musos who shared his passion for genre bending, hook-heavy songs and dramatic live shows.
“We’re still a relatively young band growing with our sound, but we are all so stoked with 'Nissan Patrol'. It’s definitely indicative of the [musical] direction we’re going in.”
Bligh draw inspiration from an array of genres and artists. “We’ve got a pretty diverse range of influences. “Our bass player James is really into electronic dance music; Zahra and Jaidyn – the keys and drummer – are really into jazz; and I’m really into old-school pop like The Smiths, Abba, The Cure and all that kind of stuff.
“It’s a really interesting mix when it comes together.”
The five-piece collective are also sitting on the accompanying video for 'Nissan Patrol'. “The video is shot and ready for release, and it should be coming out sometime next month. It’s a really cool video.”
While the song title hints at a love of the popular 4WD model, Elliot admits the track was inspired by a different set of circumstances. “I was seeing this older girl when I was in high school and she was just way cooler, and we used to drive around in this really rundown SUV, smoke weed and see all kinds of things.
“['Nissan Patrol' is] more about that time of my life generally, it’s not really about the car.”
The band have a series of shows in May to promote the release of 'Nissan Patrol'.
Written by Gyan Rocha
Bligh 2019 Tour Dates
Thu 2 May - Mr Boogie Man Bar (Melbourne)Sat 4 May - Red Bar (Sydney)
Sun 5 May - The Captain Cook Hotel (Sydney)
Sat 11 May - Mo’s Desert Clubhouse (Gold Coast)
