With celestial synths and starry guitar lines, Okay Dane’s Interstellar Nihilist takes you straight to the Milky Way
Okay Dane have roared into the new year with new single Interstellar Nihilist, an existential banger that marks a welcome return for the Melbourne trio.
Dipping more heavily into indie-pop stylings, the track is carried by an extra-terrestrial guitar line and adorned in synths so spacey they’ll take you straight to the exosphere.
What begins as an exercise in warm indie rock, complete with rustic guitar melodies and blissful vocal harmonies, later transcends into something starrier, as Okay Dane let loose on a chorus dripping with celestial atmospherics.
Here, the trio welcome the punkish sound they’ve mastered with previous releases, helped along by the sneer of Jake Kougioumtzis’ vocal delivery and explosive percussion.
While all the staples of Okay Dane’s alt-rock sound are there — from crescendoing instrumentation to anthemic, sing-along moments — Interstellar Nihilist also sees the trio flex new sonic muscles.
There’s a poppier quality to the track’s songwriting, with catchy vocal riffs destined to become earworms and a talky timbre reminiscent of Australia’s biggest indie pop acts.
To master a galaxy-bound soundscape is one thing, but Okay Dane pair the aesthetic with lyrics that are just as focussed on the stars.
Here, the trio compare an astronaut lost in space to the loneliness we feel down here on Earth, reflecting on the disconnectedness we all endure in the digital age.
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“I’m a supernova taking flight,” Kougioumtzis pines on the ascendant chorus, “passing out in someone’s car.”
“We are more accessible with our communication,” Kougioumtzis said of the track’s message in a press statement, “but far less connected in any in-person sense.”
Interstellar Nihilist adds to a string of equally stellar singles released by Okay Dane of late, with Blush and Goldfish arriving in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
The trio are set to debut Interstellar Nihilist with an official launch party at Fitzroy’s Bad Decisions on January 19, with assists from support acts Oh Daisy!, Stepdad Advice and After School Care.
In the meantime, listen to Okay Dane’s new single Interstellar Nihilist below.
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