Latest single ‘Toast’ from Pond joyously pokes fun at the wealthy and ignorant

Upon first listen ‘Toast’ is relaxed, understated, and catchy with trademark echoing Pond guitar and the slightest hint of melancholy. 

However, once you start to absorb the sparse but biting lyrics it becomes apparent that this vibey track also has a clear point to make.

The tracks opening lines “Glasses chink, we applaud the setting sun / bloated with champagne, we assume we’d see another one” display a playful and even sarcastic tone to the lyrics against the laid back but intriguing instrumentation that is a clear shot at the ignorant in the face of recent climate change issues. 

Being an Australian band, the song was undoubtedly spurred on by the fires in Australia last year and it is refreshing to see a band making a point in a way that doesn’t come across as ‘holier than thou’. Instead, Pond give you a catchy but poignant slow jam accompanied by a quirky DIY music video that keeps things fun overall.

The music video seems purposively kitschy, being filmed on a small budget with a single, stationary camera and a green screen. The band members sit around a dining table, jolly and all dressed in white, while frontman Nick Allbrook plays around delivering the punchy lyrics right to the camera and decadently serves himself and his band champagne. The decision for a band like Pond to go for an understated and creative music video like this is a nice touch given the subject matter and tone of the track. Perhaps it would be harder to buy a song that points the finger to the ignorant elite through an expensive-looking, flashy music video. The stripped-back nature of the video is complemented by the sense of humour throughout, with Allbrook’s over the top dramatic delivery, the retro karaoke-style yellow typed lyrics,  and the poorly synchronised attempted miming of a saxophone solo.

Following on from recent funkier, upbeat singles like ‘America’s Cup’ and ‘Pink Lunettes’, ‘Toast’ shows the band’s ability to strip things back and maintain a sense of humour in the face of pressing world issues, which is probably an essential skill for any artist in this day and age. The range shown with the release of this new track would make anyone excited for Pond’s upcoming album ‘9’ which is due to be released on 1st October 2021.

 

Aoife McMahon

Image: Pond Official Single Artwork