Circle – One

Sydney duo Circle have just had their first studio single in 2 years premiere on Happy. One was written and produced by the band and mixed by the band in Enmore Audio and mixing duties were handed over to Magoo. Here’s what Happy had to say about One:

Attention all synthpop lovers who spell synthesiser with an S! Sydney production duo Circle have just shared their latest single One with us, and we’re spreading their good vibes with the world. With a finely tuned recipe of snappy snares, squarewave sequences and tape delay for days, their return to the studio after two years revisits the fact that there’s no shame in loving good, honest pop music. Hailing from our very own hood in the inner west of Sydney, Circle first caught our attention with their rather dancier debut LP The Middle back in 2012. With a newfound polish and maturity, One opens up to the wide open plains with an unforeseen breadth of layering, thanks in no small part to their collaboration with Brizzy producer Magoo, who has lent his hand to The Gurge, Jungle Giants and everyone’s favourite Brisbane City Raptors.

circle one

This sheen is balanced with a anachronistic appreciation for several golden ages of genres – the neo-twee of the 00′s, the microchip music era of the 80′s and even a little bit of the croontastic 50′s is all given a bit of a nod on One. This non-era-specific passion isn’t an emulation by any stretch of the imagination, but is something more reminiscent. There’s an approach that seems less blindly nostalgic and more academic, and that’s something that Circle should be proud of. Alongside the release, a bootleg stop-motion video has been released, and you’ll probably be shocked to find out that the footage is taken from a 1989 cult film called He Was Once.

Digitally distressed, the footage is made to look like something from the original (terrifying) Gumby cartoons, while the original (still rather terrifying) footage is a mere 25 years old. It’s an odd choice of visual companionship, but the whole children dressed as adults and adults dressed as children thing works nicely with the song’s coming of age themes. The song is the first release from the upcoming Capital City Cross Word Puzzle which is yet to be given a release date. Listen to the private Soundcloud link below (only available here!) and keep your ears to the ground for the official release plus tour schedule later this month!