''Tasmania'' is the eighth studio album by Australian

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band

Pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

. It was released on 1 March 2019 by Spinning Top Records via Caroline Australia (

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

internationally). As with previous Pond albums, it is also produced by former member and

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

frontman Kevin Parker. It features 10 tracks, led by third single "Daisy". At the

AIR Awards of 2020 The 2020 AIR Awards was the fourteenth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards ceremony (generally known as the AIR Awards). It took place on 1 October 2020 in Adelaide. The nominations were revealed on 7 July 2020 ...

, the album was nominated for Best Independent Rock Album or EP.

Background

''Tasmania'' has been called a "sister album" to the band's previous record, 2017's '' The Weather''. It was recorded in

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Concept

''Tasmania'', much like the band's previous release, ''The Weather'', is a concept album that continues exploring certain themes and topics touched on in that record. In a statement, the band called the album a "dejected meditation on planetary discord, water, machismo, shame, blame and responsibility, love, blood and empire". In addition, the band also stated that the album "coats an undercurrent of restless, anxious dread in a sheen of light, apathetic content - both real and parody - rather than wallowing in self-pity, encouraging us to celebrate the fruits of our planet, frolic in the ocean, kick up the dust, roll in the grass and enjoy the feeling of being in love - while we still can."BWW News Desk
"Pond Announce New Album TASMANIA, Share DAISY Video"
''

Broadway World BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City covering Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, N ...

'', 10 January 2019

Singles

"Burnt Out Star" and "Sixteen Days" were released in 2018 as the first two tracks from the album, released on 23 July and 5 October respectively. The third single, "Daisy", released on 10 January 2019, was noted for featuring "seductive changeups and dance-worthy delivery" by '' Paste'' magazine. A promo video for the title track, "Tasmania", was released to YouTube on 1 March 2019 to coincide with the album's release. Music videos for "The Boys Are Killing Me" and "Hand Mouth Dancer" were also uploaded to YouTube later in the year.

Critical reception

''Tasmania'' received generally positive reviews from critics. At

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

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score of 77, based on fourteen reviews. Mark Deming gave a positive review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, claiming " the music is effective and satisfying regardless of the level of quirkiness (they have a consistently strong talent for cutting a potent groove), and they make their eccentricities work in their favor rather than just boosting their "interesting" quotient."

Track listing

Personnel

Pond * Nick Allbrook *

Jay Watson Jay Watson (born 27 May 1990 ) is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the psychedelic rock bands Tame Impala and Pond. Watson records solo material under the name GUM and, as of ...

* Joe Ryan * Jamie Terry * James Ireland Additional musicians * Francesca Mountfort – cello on "Daisy" * Joey Waronker – drums on "Tasmania" starting at 3:04 * Lucy Jack – additional vocals on "Burnt Out Star" * Tristan Parr – cello on "Selené" * Jonathan Wilson – guitar on "Selené" * Benjamin Witt – guitar solo on "Shame" * Kevin Parker – drums on "Doctor's In" Production * Production – Kevin Parker & Pond * Mixing – Kevin Parker & Pond * Engineering – Kevin Parker & Pond * Mastering – Joe Carra * Additional engineering on "Selené" – Sam Ford * Artwork – They make it in the basement.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Pond (Australian band) albums