Multi-instrumentalist and perhaps one of the hardest working artists around, GUM (aka Jay Watson) has somehow found the time to write and record a fresh collection of solo tracks for the first time since 2020. The newest release Race to the Air soars into view like a gigantic interplanetary craft, it takes in a sparkling vista of cosmic disco – all robo grooves and quivering strings.
Of the track GUM says; “Race to the Air was originally called Running to the Cure. I have this memory of going to the toilet at Glastonbury and The Cure started their set by playing Plainsong, which is my favourite Cure song, so I was running from the portaloo to the stage. I couldn’t call a song Running to the Cure after COVID though, I didn’t want people to think I was making an album about the pandemic!”
GUM will be heading around the country on a rare Australian tour with his band, heading up Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in September, before heading overseas to play a string of dates across the US in October.
Last month, GUM released two tracks with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Ambrose Kenny–Smith for Record Store Day. Minor Setback and Old Transistor Radio have been getting spin after spin on stations across the US, clocking up the streams and receiving serious love from tastemaker outlets around the globe.
GUM has gifted us five studio albums since 2014, somehow finding time between his commitments with Pond and Tame Impala. Watson’s restless imagination has treated us to some of the most sonically diverse explorations of the past decade and has seen him take the stage as a special guest for Mac DeMarco, Mini Mansions and Angel Olsen, in addition to sold-out shows in Australia and packed rooms across Europe, the UK and USA.
AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
TICKETS HERE
Friday 8 September | Freo.Social – Perth, WA
Thursday 14 September | The Brightside – Brisbane, QLD
Friday 15 September | Oxford Art Factory – Sydney, NSW
Saturday 16 September | The Night Cat – Melbourne, VIC
With thanks to Morse Code PR
