Gareth Thomas Turns A Broken Heart into A Single ‘Unfortunate’
Founding member of Goodshirt and Fazerdaze, Gareth Thomas turns a romantic breakup into something unexpectedly playful on his new single Unfortunate – a bittersweet indie-pop account of betrayal, acceptance and finding a way forward through “making cool stuff”.
“I’m pretty mildly spoken and not used to expressing angst in a song – that’s why I chose the line ‘It’s just unfortunate’ for the chorus,” Gareth says. “It’s probably the least rock ’n’ roll thing to sing, but it was exactly how I felt – and it helped.”
The recording keeps the same restraint: based around a piano and a drum machine, a format inspired by a concert Gareth performed with Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor. Beneath the Linndrums and heaving Moog synthesisers there is also a nod to LCD Soundsystem.
The video tells an aquatic tale of love gone wrong, featuring a shrimp, a blowfish and a psychedelic toad.
Gareth animated it himself, using the hallucinogenically deadpan drawings of illustrator Nathan James Page.
“It was a cathartic experience animating such a heavy topic with Nathan’s absurd drawings,” he says. “There’s a loose narrative under there, but it’s really about expressing the grieving process through crude animation.”
The shrimp gets a third act in “Stink Shrimp”, a super cute browser game Gareth built with his maths whizz brother, Matt Thomas. Players take the role of the lovesick shrimp, catching hearts to win his thorny blowfish girlfriend back from the toad – all while avoiding toad drool.
Unfortunate follows Lilly Knows Electricity, the bright, infectious single sparked by an unexpected encounter with Wellington band Mermaidens at AUM Festival – the song that reignited Gareth’s songwriting and set the album in motion.
Both singles appear on Bits, the new album out Friday 30th October, marking a new chapter in his solo work.
Gareth brings the songs to the stage across Aotearoa this October and November, including an album release show at Auckland’s Big Fan:
GARETH THOMAS – LIVE
Thursday 22 October @ Waitaki Winegrowers, Oamaru
Friday 23 October @ Oamaru Arts Festival
Sunday 8 November @ Space Academy, Christchurch
Friday 20 November @ Big Fan, Auckland
Album Release Show with Echomatica
Saturday 28 November @ Shed Twenty5, Nelson
Sunday 29 November @ Mussel Inn, Golden Bay
Gareth Thomas’ new album Bits is out Friday 30th October, with Unfortunate available on all streaming platforms from today!
