With a grooving bass section and lyrics laced with nostalgia, 'Radio' (one of two singles released from Sly Withers incoming third album 'Overgrown') captures not just the record, but the essence of the Perth outfit's story to date.
It's been six years since the release of the band's self-titled debut, and vocalists/ guitarists Jono Mata and Sam Blitvich look at 'Overgrown' as not just a continuation of its predecessor, last year's 'Gardens', but a representation of Sly Withers professional and personal growth since their debut LP."It feels to me like a sequel to 'Gardens'," begins Jono, "and I think that's why we wanted the turnaround to be so quick and to get another album out so soon.
"I feel like a lot of those songs could be swapped around and they'd make similar albums.
"The content and style of writing; while the production on 'Overgrown' and the time we had in the studio separates it sonically, I feel like content wise and thematically, they could be interjected into each album."
"I feel like our debut [album], we don't really like to talk about," Sam interjects, chuckling as his bandmate agrees.
"We were very young, and very misguided – but I fully agree, 'Overgrown' came right out of 'Gardens'. That was a very deliberate thing for us, to keep up that momentum."
Momentum is certainly the buzz word. If the approach to Sly Withers' debut album saw them being young, dumb, and full of blind enthusiasm, then 'Gardens' displayed a keen sense of growth, one which has established greater momentum throughout every aspect of 'Overgrown'.
"When we got signed to Dew Process and put out our 'Gravis' EP in 2019, that was the beginning of this new phase of our careers, where we were taking things a little more seriously," Sam says.
"From a business perspective and an artistic perspective, we've spent so long just figuring out how to do the thing, whether it be musically in a song or recording context, or musically in a live context, or just how to manage interpersonal relationships between everyone in the band.
"We've been together for ten years now – it's a relationship in your life you can't take for granted. It requires work to keep things healthy, to keep things productive.
"Everything that we're doing, 'Overgrown' has been a product of this massive learning journey we've all been on for a long time. A little bit of progress each time."
As for how that progress speaks to fans upon listening to 'Overgrown', Sly Withers only hope that, if the listener is accounting only for their musicianship, a line can be drawn that pinpoints the progression in their songs.
"The cues in terms of the growth that we're putting out in terms of a sonic perspective definitely [comes through] in the lushness that we put into this record," Sam says.
"There's acoustic guitars, there's synths, strings, there's timpani on one song. I hope we're outwardly projecting that we're trying, we're having a crack at not using the same 20 tricks we've always used, and I think that approach was reinforced by our producer, Dave ['Parko'] Parkin.
"He's pushed us to be brave and to not think of the songs as genre songs. Trying to create the best possible thing but also have it complement the other songs we're working on at the same time.
"Every song gets pushed as far as it can, and we're constantly thinking about the bigger picture."
That's not to assert that that thought was never given to Sly Withers prior two albums, but it seems a great deal of consideration and care has been used to create 'Overgrown'. And not just into the production and songwriting, but into themselves – the word that springs to mind is maturity.
Not just maturity in conduct of character, but maturity of sound and their relationship as a band. "I think that's why we felt this was a sequel to the last album," Sam ponders, "it and we are very much a product of our environment."
'Overgrown' is released 28 October.
Sly Withers 2022 Tour Dates
Fri 4 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)Thu 10 Nov - UC Hub (Canberra)
Fri 11 Nov - Metro Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 12 Nov - Princess Theatre (Brisbane)
Fri 18 Nov - Northcote Theatre (Melbourne)
Sat 19 Nov - Uni Bar (Hobart)
Sat 26 Nov - Darwin Railway Club
Sat 10 Dec - Astor Theatre (Perth)
