Just a month after Ceres made their triumphant comeback with Want/Need, the Melbourne (Naarm) emo favourites have returned with not one but two new heartrending gems: Humming and MAXi.
‘I Was At The Bottom’: Ceres’ New Album Has Changed Frontman Tom Lanyon
According to frontman Tom Lanyon, the former cut wasn’t written with the spotlight in mind. He explained in a press release: “Tom Bromley [of Los Campesinos!] heard Humming for the first time and sent me a message: ‘It should be a single!’ ‘Hahaha’ I wrote back, without actually showing any emotion on my face at all. I thought he was joking.
“‘It can’t be a single,’ I thought to myself. Humming is a sad song. A song about sad things. About loss and about blaming yourself. Hating yourself, even. It’s too much. Weak when it mattered. Faux-strong when it didn’t. How can you still love me? Humming a harmony, something for me. ‘Nah, fuck that,’ I said out loud, ‘Humming’s not a single.’”
Alas, it’s hard to argue with Tom Bromley – and the fact Humming is one of the most stirring and impactful songs Ceres have minted since their inception. Check it out below:
Up next is MAXi – named for the supermarket that appears in the accompanying visualiser – which Lanyon described as “sadness and optimism in two and a half minutes”, and introduced by recalling a personal conversation he once had with a partner: “‘I don’t know – sometimes I love you, and sometimes… I… I don’t know. I don’t.’
“‘Well I can’t be with someone who thinks like that,’ she said. I hung up the phone and stared at the steering wheel. Parking lot was quiet. I felt very alone, and very free.”
“Change is hard. Phone calls are harder. But sometimes you just need to make the call.”
ICYMI, Ceres reintroduced themselves last month after a five-year hiatus, delivering Want/Need as their first new song since 2019. The band are currently gearing up to release their as-yet-untitled fourth album, but not before they hit the road for a short trek along the east coast – with fellow indie-emo stalwart Suzi in tow (herself previewing songs from her upcoming debut album), Ceres will hit stages in Melbourne, Brisbane (Meanjin) and Sydney (Warrang) throughout July; head here for more details.
Prior to Want/Need, Ceres’ most recent release was the 2019 album We Are A Team, which earned a four-star review from TheMusic.com.au’s Keira Leonard. In it, she wrote that “passion, desire and despair are intertwined from start to finish”.
