Melbourne trio Blusher have announced their debut EP, Should We Go Dance?, set for release on Friday, July 13th via Atlantic Records/Warner Music Australia. The news arrives alongside the release of their brand-new single, “Backbone” – a powerful anthem about the aftermath of heartbreak. Listen to the track now below.
Speaking on ‘Backbone’, and how it came from the whiplash and aftermath of a breakup, “the part where your friends listen to you cry, support you with chocolate and partying, and help you to recover”, Blusher explain how they wanted to, “sing about the way that heartbreak can strengthen and empower friendships. It’s a fire-y, energetic love song to the friends who have your back through it all. Backbone is aptly named, its themes of power, confidence and deep friendship are the foundation of our band. This song is very special to us.”
The new single is accompanied by the music-video-quality-visualizer which features Blusher in their alter-ego ‘choose your fighter’ personas. Speaking on the concept behind this, they explain, “When we first wrote the song, we had visions of 80’s workout routines/Charlie’s Angels/a “choose your fighter” moment in an anime video game. It made us think about what our video game characters would be. We saw ourselves channeling an element in each of our verses. Miranda’s verse is powered by fire and lit by red brake lights, Jade’s, a watery moment with a tear filled champagne glass, whilst Lauren’s air bending bridge propels you to the dance floor and breathes new life into you.”
The new song arrives ahead of the trio’s international debut at Brighton’s The Great Escape Festival. The trio have also been announced as special guests, joining Swedish pop powerhouse Tove Lo on her upcoming Splendour in The Grass sideshows.
Speaking on Should We Go Dance?, the trio said, “We wanted our EP to sound like the best night out with your friends; the grit, glitter, confidence, chaos and confessions. The songs correlate to different parts of the night; getting ready together, crush confessions in the bathroom, and yelling with your friends in the middle of the dance floor. From sensitivity and shyness in ‘Softly Spoken’, to the chaotic confidence of unreleased track ‘Hurricane Chaser’, we wanted the EP to encapsulate the wonderful range of emotions that we put on full display within female friendships.
Most of the music was created in Lauren’s bedroom while we drank lots of tea and spilled all our secrets. Writing this EP was such a fun combination of forces. We swapped instruments, read from each others’ journals, and layered all our vocals together to create what we call the ‘fourth member of the band’. Lauren is head chef of production, Jade is a vocal melody machine and Miranda can write basslines in her sleep. It was important to us to make sure the EP sounded as powerful, honest and unique as the women we were writing about (ourselves lol).
When we first met, we found we shared a love for hard hitting, dancey pop, sparkly synths and drum machines. We all get nostalgic over the same deep cuts by Robyn, Kesha, LCD Soundsystem and MGMT. When listening to our EP, we want people to feel grounded in the pulsing bass lines, pulled by the pace of the chopped breaths, and energized by the euphoric synths. We all sing, and we love to experiment with our vocals, we laugh, yell, chant and turn our voices into production elements. There was a lot of laughing and dumb jokes involved, and also a lot of experimentation.
We hope this EP could become the soundtrack to someone’s restless nights, and that it inspires groups of girls like us to go out and make some funny stories with their friends.”