Flying Nun Records and Pōneke’s Womb are thrilled to announce the trio’s upcoming album, Dreaming of the Future Again — out digitally and on 180g black vinyl on November 11th, 2022.
Womb is made up of siblings Cello Forrester (vocals, guitar, strings), Haz Forrester (synth, guitar), and Georgette Brown (drums). Their music is a composite of the three and builds on the shoegaze and dream pop sounds they are inspired by.
Dreaming of the Future Again is Womb’s sophomore album, recorded between 2020 and 2022, between living rooms and bedrooms, and at their dear friend and collaborator Bevan Smith’s backyard studio, Circle Blue Studios. “Dreaming of the future again” is a phrase that sprang to mind for Cello as they woke up one morning, and these are the words that tether each song on the album together.
The album builds musically from where their previous album, Like Splitting the Head from the Body, left off. The arrangements have moments that are layered, warm, and ethereal, where Georgette's driving drums are met with percussive samples, Haz’s synths bend and rise, and Cello’s textured strings stretch across the tracks. There are also sparse moments that draw you to Cello’s direct vocal delivery, for example on the opening track, Sylvan’s Song, and later in The Dove.
Lyrically, the songs trace moments across the two years recording the album, drawing on a repeated lexicon for Cello: of light and refraction; butterflies; birds; and dreaming. Each song is both personal and allegorical, and looks at connection and the things we are tethered to.
The album art is a drawing of a star-flower by band member and artist Georgette — titled, “I want you to see above your head a beautiful, beautiful star”. The drawing is on the wall of Cello and Georgette’s kitchen. The title of this artwork comes from a book that Georgette’s dad, Justin, used to read to her, guiding a visualisation of a star that is your very own, one which you can carry with you everywhere you go.
The trio have also released the first single from the album, ‘Oceans’, accompanied by a video (above) directed by none other than Martin Sagadin. The first spark of an idea for making this video came from wanting to build a rain machine. The band wanted to pay homage to the ever-iconic kissing-in-the-rain scene à la ‘All The Things She Said’ by t.A.T.u., and bring the line in their song, "I just want to bring you oceans", to life.
“The shape of the spiral is at the heart of the ‘Oceans’ video. The thing about spirals is that they move in any direction, spiralling out, spiralling in, which is essentially what ‘Oceans’ is about: moving between feeling far from and close to someone. At the start, we watch the lovers un-spiralling from one another; by the end they turn toward each other, literally standing under the spiral-shaped rain machine.“
“The ocean is one of the oldest things on the planet. More than half the human body is composed of water. We picture this song as a wave rising and then falling, all the tension smoothed over. Following this imagery, the instrumentation of this song emulates the rhythm of tides; layered and overlapping guitars and synths, with Georgette’s drums at the heart of this song; a constant presence mirroring the repetition of a tide.” — Womb
Whilst forming in Pōneke, Aotearoa, music has always been central to the siblings’ relationship. In the flat cornfield suburbs of Illinois, Georgette would share Limewire mp3s between the three. Before then their older siblings would show them music when they lived in a Eucalyptus forest near Daylesford, Australia. After moving to Pōneke, Aotearoa in their teenage years, the three grew alongside the music community they found.
Since their inception, Womb have released their first self-titled Womb EP (Sonorous Circle, 2015), their debut album Like Splitting the Head from the Body (Arcade Recordings and Sonorous Circle, 2018), and their second EP, Holding a Flame (Flying Nun Records, 2021).
Womb have toured many times nationally around New Zealand, as well as taking their sound abroad to Hobart’s Hobienalle in 2019, and touring mainland China in 2019 with friend and booking manager Kristen Ng / Kiwese / Kaishandao. Cello, Haz, and Georgette are all Cancer risings.
Dreaming of the Future Again is out digitally and on 180g black vinyl on November 11th, 2022 via Flying Nun Records.
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TRACKLISTING
Sylvan’s Song
Like in a Dream
Oceans
Clip Your Wings
Some Setting Sun
When I See You
Stars (Prelude)
The Dove
Dreaming of the Future Again
