Congress Of Animals Drop Opulent Single 'Depends On You'

Wellington supergroup Congress Of Animals have shared a sumptuous single titled ‘Depends On You’. Penned by band member Nigel Collins the elegant and airy tune is driven by layered harmonies, grandiose walking bass lines and cinematic sonic idiosyncrasies. The song was the first recorded by the star-studded project which features Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords, Age Pryor, Justin Firefly and Ben Lemi, who are touring throughout Aotearoa in November and December. Collins shared some insight into the genesis of the track in a statement...

“It was an experiment – jamming the tune and lyrics live as I recorded them, and what came out seemed to be about trying to offer someone help. Or maybe – as I began to think further – perhaps my higher giving my lower self some advice about accepting it.

We were with Lee Prebble at the Surgery in 2016. While the band were still setting up gear, Bret asked me to remind him how one of my songs went – we had previously worked on fleshing out the track in previous home jams. We strummed through Depends On You, and off he went to the drum kit and just started playing the groove. Ben came in and picked up the bass and Justin plugged in his guitar and the song was recorded in only a few takes - with cellos and lead guitar later added at home, and a one man woodwind band (courtesy of Oscar Laven) added on the hoof back at the Surgery to complete the track. It came together kind of effortlessly - pretty cosmic really.”

You can catch Congress Of Animals on their Strange Caravan tour throughout November and December. For full details and to score tickets, head over here.