Premiere: jade imagine shares first song in two years, Big Old House, tease debut album

Header photo by Nick McKinlay.

For those perhaps unacquainted, it's time to meet jade imagine. After initially breaking out with their 2016 debut Stay Awake, the Melbourne indie-pop group showed promise to be one of Australia's most exciting names in the dream-pop space, occupying a similar trajectory felt later with the international rise of Hatchie. On their 2017 debut EP What The Fuck Was I Thinking, this only felt more obvious; their hazy melodies and sharp lyricism finding them a well-deserved home on the esteemed Milk! Records roster while being paraded as a band bound for a full national break-out with whatever happened next. What next happened to be, however, was two years of silence; the group seemingly working on something bigger and long-winding after shows with everyone from Julia Jacklin to The Pretenders set them up as a force on the live circuit.

Now, however, this is changing. Today, we're proud to premiere the first taste of new music from jade imagine since their 2017 debut EP, with the four-piece going back on track with a new single Big Old House, and an accompanying video. The single highlights what jade imagine does best. It's soft and subtle, with hazy guitar melodies meeting a subtle percussive pace and washed-out vocals from frontwoman and songwriter Jade McInally, whose vocal sways gently above the single's quite upbeat pace. It's a spectacular return to form from the band that establishes itself as quite a special moment, especially when paired with the single's meaning, which Jade explains: "This song came to me in a dream. I woke up and sang the melody into my phone. It’s about holding the mirror up to yourself. There is light in the dark. Letting yourself feel okay again. Rebirth. Getting back to basics. Musically, we channelled the inner Kraut to make the rock."

It comes with an official video clip, which pairs the single's dreamy and somewhat nostalgia-inducing sounds with visuals to match, co-directed by James Thomson and the band. "The film clip is an extension of the themes within song; it's about telling yourself in your darker moments to let the good things in, even if all you feel is negativity," Jade says on the video. "In the clip, I am getting brainwashed by my happier, lighter and more wholesome self. It represents the ongoing conflict between the light and dark within ourselves."

It's the first taste of a debut album yet to be formally announced, but in the meantime, check out the video below, and watch them launch the single with a show at Melbourne's Yah Yah's on June 1st, with special guests in the form of Spike Vincent and Denise le Menice.

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