The Goon Sax – the trio of Riley Jones, Louis Forster, and James Harrison – have announced their third album, Mirror II. It arrives on July 9 via new label Matador. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the lead single, ‘In the Stone’, which is accompanied by a Mara Palena-directed video. Check it out below and scroll down for the album’s cover artwork and tracklist.
Mirror II was recorded with longtime PJ Harvey producer John Parish at Geoff Barrow’s Invada Studios in Bristol. “The first two albums are inherently linked,” Forster said in a press release. “They had three-word titles; they went together. This one definitely felt like going back to square one and starting again, and that was really freeing.”
“We lived in a shared house together, this tiny little Queenslander we called ‘Fantasy Planet,’ where we wrote the album,” Jones added. “We were able to go to each other’s rooms and say anything that came to mind and go to the practice room three times a week. It was pretty intense.”
Talking about the inspiration behind the new single, Forster explained: “‘In The Stone’ is set in Berlin where I moved with my partner at the time, just after finishing school and recording our last album We’re Not Talking at the end of 2017. We were both exploring ourselves – accepting each other’s changes and celebrating flux – but also reckoning with the complicated need for a solid sense of self and the person we loved. Musically the song was influenced by what was playing in the background of our conversations which often took place in Ubers, supermarkets, outside parties etc. So it probably bears more of a subconsciously absorbed modern pop influence than anything else we’ve done as a band.”
The Goon Sax have also announced a string of UK dates in September, following their previously announced spring Australian shows. Find the full list of dates below.
Mirror II Cover Artwork:
Mirror II Tracklist:
1. In the Stone
2. Psychic
3. Tag
4. Temples
5. The Chance
6. Bath Water
7. Desire
8. Carpetry
9. Til Dawn
10. Caterpillars
Australian Tour Dates:
21/5/21 – The Zoo, Brisbane
28/5/21 – Mary’s Underground, Sydney
3/6/21 – RISING Festival, Melbourne
UK Tour Dates:
01/09/21 Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
02-05/09/21 – End of the Road Festival
06/09/21 – MOTH Club, London
07/09/21 – Pink Room, YES, Manchester
08/09/21 – Mono, Glasgow
