Nice Biscuit

Brisbane/Meanjin psych rockers Nice Biscuit bring us their cosmic new single, "Fade Away" from their forthcoming sophomore album, SOS — out October 4th via Bad Vibrations.

"Fade Away" launches straight into Nice Biscuit’s signature thunderous, fuzz guitars and plays with waning intensity throughout the track, teasing you with big build ups that drop back into lush, hypnotic grooves. Grace Cuell and Billie Star’s duel vocals are tinged with 90s nostalgia as they chant in harmony; “I want to fade away”.

The song explores the apathy that lies in the depths of physical and emotional burn-out, with the lyrics moving through the metaphor of a star that has exhausted its brightness and wants to fade into the background and disappear — guilt-free. Co-frontwoman, Grace Cuell notes; “Both Billie and I have the kind of people-pleasing tendencies that land us in trouble from time to time. This song is about accepting that sometimes you just have nothing to give, and that’s ok!”.

Like the other songs on the upcoming record SOS, the Nice Biscuit guys (Nick Cavendish, Jess Ferronato, Kurt Melvin) recorded the instrumental tracks first at Swan Pond Studios and after trialling a few melodies, Billie and Grace lifted the opening line and melody for "Fade Away" from a different track that didn’t make it on the record — it was the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Fade Away" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh0PqJHGOp8

Following the acclaim of their 2018 debut LP Digital Mountain and 2021 EPs Create Simulate and Passing Over, Nice Biscuit’s eagerly-awaited second album, SOS is set for release on October 4th via Bad Vibrations in the UK/Europe and Greenway Records/Reverberation Appreciation Society (USA). Written and recorded during 2022-23 at Swan Pond Studios (QLD) and mixed by Mildlife’s Jim Rindfleish, the nine track album embodies the fuzzy groove-laden psych that Nice Biscuit is renowned for, while introducing new danceable feels influenced by their love of disco, jazz fusion and world music.

With the beautifully hypnotic and soothing vocals of front women, Billie Star and Grace Cuell, SOS is about finding calm and balance in our chaotic world. While writing the album, the band often discussed the weight and compounding of the various crises of the world, thus each song is a different response to these turbulent times. The band explains: “Sometimes we feel hopeful and grateful, pessimistic and desolate, mournful and angry, sometimes we feel that love can solve it all and sometimes we just become overwhelmed and apathetic about everything.”

The album was written over one year as the band enjoyed multiple long weekends out at Swan Pond Studios with their friend, Alistair Richardson (The Cairos, Clea). After road-testing a few of the new songs on tour in Europe in 2023, Nice Biscuit went back to Swan Pond Studios to record the album over a 6-month period. It is the final album with the band’s original guitarist and producer, Jess Ferronato, who recorded all the instruments on the record, while Richardson tracked all the vocals.

Unlike their debut album and EPs, for SOS the band decided to split up the recording sessions into two groups — bass, guitar, drums (the boys: Nick Cavendish, Jess Ferronato, Kurt Melvin) and vocals and percussion (the girls: Star and Cuell). The band explains of the recording process: “The boys laid down the foundations of the songs on the weekend prior and then Billie and Grace would head out to add vocals and write lyrics. Often we would not have the lyrics or melodies finished before going out there, which allowed more focus and energy to be poured into the instrumentation and vocals. It fostered greater creativity and space by doing it separately and felt like a fun back and forth between the two groups, being excited to share what we have created. Then in the weeks after we got together and added more synth and percussion parts.”

Since their inception. Nice Biscuit have been carving out a vibrant sound of their own influenced by krautrock, garage and modern psych. They layer and transcend the classic psychedelic hallmarks of fuzzy guitars and repetitive rhythms with the mesmerising performance and ethereal vocals of co-front women Star and Cuell, who sing in constant harmony and give Nice Biscuit its distinct voice. Live on stage, they also create and design the band’s outfits which draw you further into a world of their making. With layers of swirling harmonies, precise instrumentation and striking visuals, Nice Biscuit has garnered a reputation for captivating live shows and immersive songwriting.  

Over the years they have won coverted support slots with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Wet Leg, Altın Gün, The Murlocs, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Jen Cloher, Allah Las plus festival slots at VIVID Sydney Festival, The Long Sunset, Jungle Love, A Festival Called Panama, King Gizzard’s Timeland Festival, Splendour in The Grass and more. Nice Biscuit has also toured internationally in the UK and Europe landing festival spots at The Great Escape (where they were listed on NME’s ‘10 new bands to watch’), Wide Awake Festival (UK), Supersonic (FRA), Liverpool City Sounds (UK), Portsmouth Psych Fest (UK) and performed headline shows across the UK and EU.