Shimmering indie rock/pop up and comers Curly Blonde have today dropped their latest single Room 309, a sun-soaked track which, despite its blissful exterior, deals with the feeling of being dissatisfied with how life has turned out. The duo have also released a video to accompany the track, perfectly in keeping with Room 309’s exploration of monotony.
Evocative of Aussie indie faves Ball Park Music and The Jungle Giants, and mixed by Nicolas Mendoza (One Four, Delta Goodrem, A$AP Ferg), Room 309 is a strong, considered offering from this young duo – it’s perfect for that summer roadtrip, and would fit in flawlessly at the sunset festival set. Bright guitar riffs bounce amongst upbeat percussion, while glistening vocals describe an unsatisfactory life – in spite of the optimistic instrumental. That’s where the intrigue rests in this track; the fact that the lyrics are quite dark, in juxtaposition with the poppy arrangement, is fascinating. Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Brynn explains, “Behind the rolling riffs, dreamy rhythms and vocals, the lyrics of the song stipulate someone who had such big imaginings for their life and set aspirational goals growing up, yet, they’re extremely unsatisfied with how things have turned out and whether they can ever have a meaningful life. It’s a pretty pertinent song, because I think most people in our age demographic are starting to realise and have thoughts along those lines, and the song captures a moment where you either make the move and live out those dreams, or whether you fall into the masses and go through the motions.”
“Going through the motions” is a great descriptor for the video for Room 309, too. The clip shows the Curly Blonde boys sitting on the same couch, going through the motions of early-twenties life – trying to entertain themselves on a budget, and trying to keep from snapping at the friend at their side. Created entirely by themselves in COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, the clip is the perfect representation of the theme behind Room 309, as Brynn explains, “The concept of the video clip was to capture the isolation and monotony of being stuck in the same place but wanting to get out of there. The video clip resonates really well with the song, because Room 309 is about someone having such high hopes for life, but not being able to reach any goals. The COVID lockdown situation sort of helped us in a way, because not being able to go anywhere and having to do the same things over and over again fitted so well into the music video.”
Speaking of the COVID lockdown – in light of being stood down from their respective jobs, Brynn and Fergus of Curly Blonde were able to buckle down and work on their music together, as Fergus says, “Covid has actually helped us, in a funny way. We were both stood down from our jobs and the spare time allowed us to really come together and record this song and our upcoming debut EP. We felt that if life had continued in its hectic state, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve as much as we have this year.”
Curly Blonde is Brynn O’Connor and Fergus Selkirk-Bell
