Divorce share tender new single ‘Antarctica’
The band are gearing up for their upcoming debut album ‘Drive to Goldhammer’.
Photo: Flower Up & Rosie Sco
Divorce have shared their new single, Antarctica, offering another glimpse into their eagerly awaited debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer. The album is set to drop on March 7th 2025 via Gravity / Capitol and, along with the previously released lead single All My Freaks, the record is shaping up to be tenderly promising.
Hailing from Nottingham’s tight-knit DIY scene, with a warming merge of vocals from guitarist Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and bassist Tiger Cohen-Towell, plus spirited accompaniment from Adam Peter Smith and Kasper Sandstrøm, Divorce thrive from within their collaborative environment. As a genre-bending amalgamation of country, folk and chamber pop, Divorce acrobats around and builds upon the finest range of musical influences, whilst leaving plenty of room for discovery and experimentation. Since 2021, they’ve been steadily gaining traction, with a sold-out four-night residency at hometown venue Bodega and support slots with a myriad of indie royalty acts (The Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club). After being recently signed to Gravity Records, they are hot-footing their way to becoming a sonic staple for a range of indie-rock fans, who — I’m sure — have the forthcoming release date circled boldly on their calendars.
Antarctica, as well as the rest of the album, was recorded during four stays at the rural North Yorkshire studio The Calm Farm before being brought to fruition by the expertise of producer Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice, boygenius) at Real World Studios. With the original songwriting sessions spanning from spring to winter, the record consequently has a seasoned charm imbued with natural warmth and an inviting sense of broken-in vitality. The song satisfyingly careers towards a soft pinnacle, with tin pot drums, cascading harmonies and fleecy strings that amplify its rustic ambience.
The single is lyrically inspired by an incident that the co-vocalists experienced while on a late-night drive. After suddenly encountering a newborn calf in the middle of the road, Felix and Tiger carried the escapee back to a nearby farm but couldn’t help but ponder the ethics of their choice. Felix observed: “Did we rescue it from the road where it could have been hit by a human in a car or did we just send it back to be killed by a different human further down the line?”. These sentiments are not only reflected throughout the meditative guitar interplay and weaving vocal melodies but are additionally compellingly evident in the band’s official visualiser for the song. Antarctica is a superlative example of sensitive and intelligent songwriting and it’s an ideal listen as we are propelled into the winter months, for it emulates the feeling of familiarity and nostalgia that we all yearn for in this period.
Antarctica is out now via Gravity / Capitol, followed by the entire album Drive to Goldhammer on March 7th 2025. Pre-order the debut album here.