Track By Track: Fazed On A Pony's New Album 'Swan'

Enrapturing listeners and ruling SRN airwaves with the skewed country / indie-rock songcraft of lead singles 'Heart Goes Blank', 'Wrong Party', and 'The Perfect Swan', Fazed On A Pony's second album swan has arrived today via Melted Ice Cream. Embarking on a five date release tour of Aotearoa with band starting this Saturday at Tāmaki Makaurau's NiceGoblins, songwriter Peter McCall very generously shared personal insights about every single tune on his new record.

Lushly laid down between Roundhead Studios and McCall's home with a top team of instrumental contributors — Rassani Tolovaa, Hamish Morgan and Shaun Malloch — swan was engineered / mixed by De Stevens and mastered by Steven Marr. Enter the elegant and emotive world of swan, cop the crystal vinyl LP edition from good record stores, and go catch Fazed On A Pony with special guests on a stage near year...

Fazed On A Pony - Swan - Album Release Tour

Saturday 24th January - NiceGoblins Collective, Auckland w/ Horn, The EE Machine
Saturday 7th February - MOON, Wellington w/ Welcomer, Tessa De Lyon
Saturday 21st February - Port Noise Festival, Lyttelton
Friday 27th March - The Crown Hotel, Dunedin w/ Diet Of Worms
Saturday 28th March - darkroom, Christchurch w/ Pickle Darling

Tickets on sale HERE via UTR
Port Noise tickets via portnoise.co.nz

1. 'The Perfect Swan'
I dismissed this riff initially, thinking it was too simple or sentimental — it sounded like slowed down Blink-182. Then I remembered I love Blink-182 guitar riffs. Perhaps this track is about letting yourself be yourself, being true to what makes you feel alive.

2. 'Flashes'
A bit of a love song to Rosa. A bit of an acknowledgement of some flawed behaviour. Remembering that you’re in love and that it’s not a given. That there are moments of organic ecstasy if you stay the course. Chimey riff inspired by László Reynolds.

3. 'Wrong Party'
I wrote this a few days before we recorded the album. The live take is me on acoustic, De on synth bass and Hamish on drums. Shaun wrote a twinkly acoustic part and laid it down. It revealed this whole other sound that FOAP could be. It was the most exciting one to record in the studio and the hardest one to finish at home.

4. 'Wait Forever'
Nobody actually wants you to wait forever, to be the catcher in the rye. Baby’s awake and someone needs to make coffee, make a plan for the day. Tiare Kelly played some lovely piano on this one that really glued the second half together. Hamish’s playing, here and on the whole album, is dynamic and interesting and completely locked in.

5. 'Time to Turn'
Oh there’s still time? I will do it tomorrow, then! The lead guitar gives this track a Terror Twilight feel I think. It’s also "time to turn" the record over (ha ha).

6. 'Heart Goes Blank'
We tracked the vocal live — something I don’t think I would have backed myself to do on the previous album. It’s a bit raw, and sounds honest to me. Flora’s sincere vocal and forthright fiddle parts were punched in from Montreal. Shaun nailed it on steel, Rass's bassline is melodic but unobtrusive. Mish brings it up and down gently. This one sounded good straight away.

7. 'Not Even Trying'
Pulling off, sometimes even quite good, things at the last minute is rarely satisfying. I did try really hard when writing this song.

8. 'Stupid Song'
There’s a life-denying feeling of knowing you could go out there and absolutely smash something but you freeze and the moment passes you by.

9. 'Rising Star'
"The pay’s not great, but the work is hard," is from Black Books. Very formative TV for me. This song ended up with a very different feel to when we tracked it live. I added the main guitar hook later at home, which gave it more of an '80s moody vibe. De kept talking about adding 'hair' to the guitar tone. So it’s smooth but also hairy. Also love Rass’s bass part, especially in the outro.

10. 'Anything else'
This was a cool one to finish on because it’s really just the sound of us all playing together. Shaun rips a hell of a solo at the end — my favourite guitar moment on the album. I plugged in my own "solo" over the bridge later on. Please let us know who is better at guitar. But actually just keep trying, and no one needs to know why it looks like you’re staying still.

'swan' is out today on vinyl LP and major streaming platforms via Melted Ice Cream.