Premiere: Sydney pop prince KESMAR unveils a new earworm of a single, Back Up

The fresh new cut joins October's Meteorite on his forthcoming EP, set for release next year.

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KESMAR isn't exactly a new face to Australia's pop circuit, although he has had a bit of a reinvention in recent months. At first, he seemed to be someone grappling with the next generation of Australia's pop world, dubbed one to watch by us off the back of his 2018-released debut single, Feel It Again. His 2019 debut EP Up To You proved his place, but the time following brought somewhat of a change for the musician's craft, focusing on solo songwriting and production after an entrance brought through collaborations with acts like LANKS and Panama.

Meteorite, a single which arrived at the tail-end of October, brought the first glimpse at how this changing musicianship had affected his sound. It was a little more subtle and intimate than much of his past work, with a piano-centred instrumental moving amongst his vocal that kept that light charm from his debut. It all felt a little slicker and considered; the labour of his craft showing in how every second sounded sparkling and irresistible, something we were sure to hear more of with the announcement of a forthcoming second EP, set for release early next year.

Now, we're getting the second taste of that today through Back Up, which premieres on Pilerats today ahead of its official release tomorrow, December 3rd. It's a song drenched in rich, wind-swept funk, with swaying synth nestling itself amongst washes of percussion and bass that give the track a slightly more upbeat edge compared to Meteorite, but still distinctly separate from the work he was making previously.

"I wrote Back Up alone in my tiny bedroom studio at the start of 2020, really didn’t have a worry at this point in time, the world hadn’t begun to self destruct yet and I think that reflects in the overall feeling of the song," he says on the single, that sense of innocence shining through the song's breezy melodies. "It started like most of my tunes, found a chord progression I was inspired by and that then laid down a simple beat and built it up from there. We made the main groove out of a stack of four different sounds; a Clavinet, hollow-body Gibson Guitar, Fender Rhodes and Juno 60. They all blended into basically one instrument that drives the whole song and gives the rhythm the room to breathe."

Partly-inspired by Brazillian percussion - which really shows in its staccato melodies and playful charm - the song also arrives with a Super 8-filmed video clip, which brings that kinda beach-esque touch to the song in a visual form, with the help of videographer Redd Sarson. It's a video that seems to double down on both the song's ache for the sun and its kinda vintage, nostalgic charm - throw in a sax solo too, and what more could you need?

You can watch the video below ahead of its official release tomorrow, and stay tuned for more news on KESMAR's forthcoming EP, due out sometime next year.