ALLDAY Releases New Video for 'Void'

ALLDAY has unveiled details of his latest album, Drinking With My Smoking Friends, due May 28 via Believe, along with sharing his new single "Void." The Australian musician and songwriter's fourth record captures evocative snippets of life from the "extended youth" he found himself experiencing after living in Los Angeles for over a year. The album also marks a significant shift in genre, integrating more guitar-driven pop sounds into the talented lyricist's sonic universe. Standout track "Void" sees him repeating "You will avoid the void" -- a resonant incantation to turn to when doing the opposite becomes tempting. Listen to "Void" HERE and watch the Hiball-directed, #HealthGoth-influenced video HERE.

The new album charts the story of two lovers, a kind of disillusioned Bonnie and Clyde, hellbent on fleeing a dead-end town with stars in their eyes. "Drinking With My Smoking Friends is about escaping something and finding something new, whether that's a place, a relationship or something else," notes Allday's Tom Gaynor.

Drinking With My Smoking Friends also tells stories of suburban drudgery and inner city decay, crafting sculptures of Australian life and the hopefulness of not only youth, but of youthful thinking as well. "There was a part of me that thought, 'I want to stop being so relentlessly dark in my music," notes Allday. "Why don't I just try to be a bit optimistic? All the songs on the record are deliberately optimistic but they contain shadows, and those are the optimistic songs I like, because they feel more human." For Gaynor, the shadow belying his happiness was the death of a close friend a couple of years ago. He's been focusing squarely on this record in that time, determined to create lightness, fun, and a sense of hope for the future. "In doing that, I hope my audience feels a sense of hope, even with their own shadows in life," he says.

In late 2020, Allday teased his forthcoming album with "After All This Time," a euphoric moment that wears its '80s influences lightly and primed the Allday audience to embrace the new direction. It embodies Gaynor's thematic direction for the record, with hopeful lyrics - of freedom, escape and looking out at the familiar - that betray a sadness and skepticism buried deeper.

Gaynor felt compelled to explore more open, sentimental melodies after working with producer Japanese Wallpaper on his 2017 song "In Motion." "There was an element, with songs like that, where the tough guy facade came down. So then I thought, 'Why am I still holding on to that?'" To pursue his shift in direction, Gaynor worked with a slew of local musicians, each of whom brought fresh perspective and a trove of skills and experience including: Japanese Wallpaper (aka Gab Strum), Johnny Took and Matt Mason from DMA's, Simon Lam of electro outfit KLLO, singer-songwriter Hayley Mary, Delta Riggs' Michael Tramonte and Elliott Hammond; and Joji Malani, (former Gang of Youths).

Allday's fourth full length offering, Drinking With My Smoking Friends, follows previous LPs Starry Night Over The Phone (2019), Speeding (2017) and Startup Cult (2014). Charting well over 200 million career streams, Allday has amassed a cult following that has seen him play huge, iconic festival sets and sell out giant venues on every tour.

Listen here:

Photo Credit: Jo Duck

To post a comment, you must register and login.