Children Collide have announced their first Aussie shows since 2015

It’s been a long time coming, but now, the mighty Children Collide have returned, announcing their first live dates since 2015 following the release of new music.

Just a few days ago, rumours were swirling that Children Collide were gearing up to release their first new song since 2012.

Having formed in the mid-’00s, the band released some of the greatest examples of Aussie indie rock from the era, with their debut album – The Long Now – deserving of being named one of the greatest local albums of all time.

However, following the release of their third record, the band decided to go on a bit of a break. While drummer Ryan Caesar departed the group before the release of 2012’s Monument, frontman Johnny Mackay found himself moving over to New York City to work on his Fascinator project.

Despite a two-show reunion in 2015, the band have remained relatively dormant since then, with Mackay telling Fairfax that the group never actually officially split up, inspiring hope of another reunion down the line.

“I didn’t really think Children Collide was going to go the way it did. And officially it hasn’t, but, whatever,” he explained. “The second I left the country, everyone else was sort of like ‘well, I guess the band’s not happening any more’.”

Having teased news of a fourth album earlier this year, the band revealed artwork for a new single titled ‘Aurora’, which some may have recognised as the title of a new song played during 2015’s reunion shows.

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Now, after premiering the new single on triple j last night, Children Collide have announced their first live shows in almost five years, with a new album set to arrive in early 2020.

Check out Children Collide’s live show announcement:

Featuring the group’s iconic sound and inimitable sense of power, ‘Aurora’ is undoubtedly Children Collide at their best.

“I kept listening back to the demo and remembering how much fun it was playing this kind of music,” Johnny Mackay explained of the track.

“It was originally written for our third album Monument, so it’s felt like unfinished business ever since and a big part of the reason we made another album. In the end if felt like it was burning a hole in my hard drive, so we had to put it out.

“I never really stopped writing music that felt like it belonged to Children Collide,” he continued. “In 2014 Heath, Ryan and I jammed and did a couple of shows and remembered how much fun it was to play that stuff together.

“The idea of a fourth album was thrown around in those sessions, but we were all busy pursuing our own paths.”

When drummer Ryan Caesar brought his Pearls project to New York in 2016, he and Mackay reconnected as friends, eventually going on to record their new album in August and September of 2019 in Bushwick and Queens with producer Loren Humphrey.

To celebrate the release of their new song and forthcoming album, Children Collide have today revealed that they’ll be taking to the stage in December for a pair of long-awaited homecoming gigs.

With Heath Crawley currently busy with his new vintage store in the Central Coast, bass duties will be taken on by Chelsea Wheatley, who is best known to many as Chela.

Kicking off at The Lansdowne on Wednesday, December 18th, Children Collide will return to Melbourne the following day for a show at the cosy Brunswick venue of Howler.

Tickets are on sale now, so don’t miss out on seeing one of the greatest Aussie outfits of the 21st century when they return to a stage near you next month.