It’s been a little while between drinks for Golden Age Of Ballooning, but the Brisbane outfit have returned with their new single ‘Birthday’, and it’s definitely time to celebrate.

The last time we heard new material from Brisbane six-piece Golden Age Of Ballooning, the world was a very different place. In fact, in those heady days of 2018, we were years away from a global pandemic, and GAOB didn’t even know they’d one day be sharing a stage with Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, either.

But two years on from their last single, ‘Savage Mountain’, it feels like barely a day has passed for the outfit, who have been hard at work on their long-awaited debut album. Now, they’ve given fans a taste of what they might be able to expect with their latest single, ‘Birthday’.

Packed full of luscious instrumentation, soaring vocals, slick guitar, throbbing bass, and unrelenting percussion, the track is a sum of its eclectic parts, combining to result in a song that is as catchy as it is hazy, leaving you wanting so much more long after those final notes have faded out.

“‘Birthday’ came about in a time when I really started to get bored with traditional song structures and the need to have a ‘chorus’,” explains vocalist Wolfe Peterson. “Despite not having these things and being kinda weird I think the song is surprisingly poppy.

“Lyrically the song is about how not all birthdays are ‘happy’. They can be fuel for whatever doubts or issues you have going on in your life. At the time I was definitely partying too much and was quite jaded with releasing music.

“I think we all experience that feeling eventually – of being trapped in a cycle and not achieving anything. I jokingly call mine a ‘Birthday inspired existential crisis’.”

Love Indie?

Get the latest Indie news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

Golden Age Of Ballooning will release ‘Birthday’ on Monday, December 7th, but if you can’t wait that long, you’d be wise to give it an early listen below. The band will also be performing their only show of 2020 at The Triffid in Brisbane this evening as part of the first Triffid Psych Night, with all details available below.

Check out ‘Birthday’ by Golden Age Of Ballooning:

The Triffid Psych Night

Zong
GUS
Blue Savannah Underworld
Golden Age of Ballooning

Friday, December 4th, 2020
The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets: Moshtix

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine