Soaked Oats Announce 'Sludge Pop' EP Release Tour + Share Single 'Coming Up'

Hot on the heels of Soaked Oats' sizzling instrumental single 'Driftworld' comes their delectable new song 'Coming Up', released along with the announcement they'll be dropping a brand new collection named Sludge Pop this coming June, via Australian indie imprint Dot Dash!. Starting out in a contemplative mode, the band are soon sounding happy as a pig in muck as they rip into the storming middle passage of their latest sonic creation before drifting back to dreamland. Filmed and edited by Jake Munro (Avantdale Bowling Club, Yukon Era), the accompanying video for 'Coming Up' is a sequel of sorts to their van-lifestyle clip for 'Driftworld', featuring nostalgic footage of Soaked Oats' on-the road antics and diversions, intermingled with evocative shots of the band doing their thing on stage. Arguably the hardest working group in Aotearoa, you can bet they have a national tour lined up in celebration of their forthcoming collection, following an appearance at UK mega festival The Great Escape and a run of headline release shows Australia.

On the origins of 'Coming Up', Soaked Oats' lead singer / songwriter Oscar Mein explained, “I had just written the first half of the lyrics as a poem. I was trying to personify a low morning in the immediate surroundings of a bedroom. Henry sent through a demo he had done titled ‘coming up from behind’, and I started playing around with applying the poem to the song while working within the title he had given it. I wrote the last few lines in a more positive headspace with Tom Bell at Chicks Hotel where we recorded it. Tom Healy added a bunch of nice stuff to this song, and it wouldn't be what it is without him, especially that acoustic guitar that chimes through when we get grooving and the synth parts too, plus a lot of other tasty bits. The cover photo is an image I took of my close friend Louis. He’s a very talented poet who also writes about crappy mornings sometimes, often after he has just woken up.”

Soaked Oats - Sludge Pop Release Tour, NZ Dates

Friday 5th July - Totara St, Mount Maunganui* 
Saturday 6th July - Galatos, Auckland
Thursday 11th July - San Fran, Wellington*
Saturday 13th July - Blue Smoke, Christchurch*
Thursday 18th July - The Cook, Dunedin (all ages)*
Friday 19th July - The Cook, Dunedin*

Tickets available HERE via UTR*

'Sludge Pop' is out digitally and on 10" vinyl on Friday 14th June via Dot Dash!.

Press release:

New Zealand’s indie sludge-pop rockers Soaked Oats are on a high after a massively successful summer of Australia and New Zealand touring and alternative radio chart-topping success following the release of latest singles ‘Driftworld’ and ‘Shuggah Doom’. The four-piece Dunedin band never stay still for long, and Soaked Oats are back with brand new single ‘Coming Up’ in celebration of the announcement of their new EP Sludge Pop, to be released digitally and on delicious 10" vinyl on Friday, June 14th 2019.

Not only do the boys have a new EP in the wings, but today they announce their landmark-signing to Australian record label Dot Dash. With label mates of high indie calibre as Methyl Ethel, Carla Geneve, Gabriella Cohen and Total Giovanni, this signing marks a huge career step for the band. All that hard work, endless touring and careful honing of the band's sonic and visual aesthetic have paid off!

Originally formed as a label for Australian artists only, Dot Dash / Remote Control Records co-owner Harvey Saward commented on the addition of a New Zealand band to the roster. "In the fine tradition of Mother Goose's Baked Bean song, Sharon O'Neil and the pavlova; it seemed only right for an Aussie label to claim another golden Kiwi as our own. Joking! We saw this band play live in Melbourne a couple of times and alongside the new recordings we believe these young chaps have amazing potential".

The new single ‘Coming Up’ brings the wistful self-examinations within Soaked Oats' lyrics to the fore, drawing the listener into a reflective, nostalgic soundscape. Paired with a video directed by Jake Munro (Avantdale Bowling Club, Yukon Era), the flickering black-and-white film depicts the boy’s adventures during their travels in a 34 foot 1980’s R.V. they called home for their 10 week, 20 thousand mile, D.I.Y U.S. tour in 2018. The video transports us through both rural and suburban America. We witness caravan parks, waterfalls and underground gig venues, following the boys on their travels through the grainy lens of nostalgia and longing for a time now passed.

Speaking on new single ‘Coming Up’, lead singer/songwriter Oscar Mein says, “I had just written the first half of the lyrics as a poem. I was trying to personify a low morning in the immediate surroundings of a bedroom. Henry sent through a demo he had done titled ‘coming up from behind’, and I started playing around with applying the poem to the song while working within the title he had given it. I wrote the last few lines in a more positive headspace with Tom Bell at Chicks Hotel where we recorded it. Tom Healy added a bunch of nice stuff to this song, and it wouldn't be what it is without him, especially that acoustic guitar that chimes through when we get grooving and the synth parts too, plus a lot of other tasty bits. The cover photo is an image I took of my close friend Louis. He’s a very talented poet who also writes about crappy mornings sometimes, often after he has just woken up.”

‘Coming Up’ was recorded in Dunedin by Tom Bell at the iconic Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers. The track was produced in Auckland at Paquin Studios (The Lab) by Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, Miss June, Finn Andrews) and Soaked Oats. 'Coming Up' is accompanied by a music video shot and directed, once again, by Jake Munro (Avantdale Bowling Club, Marlin’s Dreaming, Yukon Era), who shot the video on location as the touring adventures unfurled in the U.S.

The band is heading to The Great Escape, the UK’s largest showcase for up-and-coming bands held in Brighton, May 9-11. The boys are gracing the Horatios stage with their distinctive sludge pop sound on Friday the 10th of May at 12:30 pm, followed by an evening set at The Hope and Ruin stage, 9:00 pm on Saturday the 11th of May.

Once they've finished blowing Brighton away, Soaked Oats will be playing a London show on Monday, May 13th at the east London venue, Servant Jazz Quarters.

To celebrate the release of Sludge Pop, Soaked Oats will be playing both Australian and New Zealand tours.