Premiere: Sex On Toast make a return with Take Your Mask Off (And Love Me Tonight)

Over the last decade and a bit, Melbourne-based group Sex On Toast have in many forms blossomed into one of the country's distinctive and long-time favourites. Originally, it happened as a growing 10-something collective of like-minded musicians, making stirring dance-pop rich with 80s nostalgia and improvisation-born class as shown through work scattered between their debut and 2015's breakthrough single Oh, Loretta!, while the time since has seen them consistently evolve in both image and sound, interchanging members as they dance amongst heavier flourishes of pop, indie, electronica and beyond.

Their last work came in the form of 2018's Rough EP, a captivating six tracks which merged together hearty funk melodies with touches of soul and R&B; a sound that in their renowned live show, was doubled down upon, and executed with the brilliance that we've come to expect from Sex On Toast over the years. The time since then, however, has been largely quiet, revolving around the band's frontman and producer Angus Leslie, who has been steadily working on their forthcoming material over the last few years.

Today, we're stoked to premiere the first taste of this new material, with Task Your Mask Off (And Love Me Tonight) being a poignant and unexpectedly timely release from Sex On Toast that puts them back on top, and gives suggestions of the tones and flavours to be explored in their returning album later this year. The first thing to be said is that Take Your Mask Off isn't some anti-mask display from the group. Instead, it's a love letter in a post-pandemic world, full of touching romanticism and swooning lyrics that will pick you up off your feet and place you in a wonderland awash with disco love.

Sound-wise, Take Your Mask Off is what we've come to expect from the group. It's slick and full of seasoning, with those aforementioned lyrics dancing amongst a hot-bed of disco and funk laid down by the band's revolving cast, alongside guest collaborators Paul Bender (Hiatus Kaiyote, Laneous) and Myka Wallace (Vulture Street Tape Gang, Superfeather). The end result is playful and dance-y, taking the nostalgia of their sounds from the past and smashing it together with a haze of romanticism to create something undoubtedly Sex On Toast, in the best possible way.

As mentioned, the single is the first from Sex On Toast's forthcoming new album Pegasus, scheduled for release later this year. According to a note accompanying the single's release, much of the record was written over the last few years by Angus Leslie over in Los Angeles, held up in a motel room to finish it off. There's no release date just yet, but it's no doubts coming soon. In the meantime, however, you can take a dive into Task Your Mask Off (And Love Me Tonight) as it premieres on Pilerats below:

Tour Dates: 

Friday 7th May - Lansdowne | SYDNEY
Saturday 8th May - UC Hub | CANBERRA
Sunday 9th May - Murrah Hall | MURRAH
Saturday 22nd May - John Curtin Hotel | MELBOURNE

Follow Sex On Toast: FACEBOOK