‘Another Day’ – Latest Single From The Beatniks
The Beatniks make a bold and triumphant return with their latest single Another Day.
Another Day marks the first release for the Dunedin-based alternative rock band since their 2023 debut album Archetype, and with it comes a new breath of sonic maturity. The track meditates on themes of depersonalisation and derealisation, musing on the trials and tribulations that everyday life has to hold.
Moving away from standard chorus-structured songwriting, the single is defined by the hauntingly melancholic guitar refrain which sings out across the track, and frontman Sam Charlesworth’s hypnotic vocals; shifting between pulled back spoken-word poetry to full blown surf-grunge intensity. Though this is a step in a different direction for the band, the song’s ultimate climax shows they can still give it all when they need to, delivering an intense but controlled outro that lingers on in true Beatniks fashion.
Lyrically, it was patched together collaboratively, with Sam asking each of the members to write down a short poem similar to his original first verse
“Everyone handed in their assignments, I read them, butchered them, and rearranged each and every line into a narrative that read well in my head, which then became the second verse. But we still didn’t have the third. I stumbled upon a poem I wrote years before and just spoke it instead of singing, it seemed to fit so we kept it. From there the bridge and outro were freestyled at a few practices. So the lyrics ended up being kind of a frankenstein of thoughts stitched together. Which ironically goes with the themes of the song.”
The track was recorded at Seaward Sounds in Port Chalmers with the incredible Tom Bell who both mixed and mastered the single, and his lovely assistant Rory Humm. The single cover was shot outside The Crown Hotel in Dunedin, by Kyra Coupland.
The accompanying music video was shot by photographer Derek Morrison (Box Of Light) across multiple Ōtepoti Dunedin locations, including the beautiful St Clair Esplanade and scenic Tunnel Beach. With the assistance of videographer Lily Jane Knowles, who edited the video alongside other promotional material for the release.
It focuses on those themes of depersonalisation; jumping between reality and a claustrophobic, ungrounded mental state, building in tension as the song progresses, until the distinction between the two can no longer be made and reliability falls away. Visually, there is an almost painting-like quality to the performance shots that complements the beach-based natural imagery throughout. “The song feels like an artwork already, the video paints the visual picture to the band – balancing both their surf rock and garage influences at once.” – Lily Jane.
Photo Credit: Lily Jane
