The Band: GARDENING

The Tune: 'RELAPSE'

The Format: DIGITAL SINGLE

The Release Date: AUGUST 31ST 2022

The Digital Link: orcd.co/gardening_relapse

The Truth: GARDENING consist of Niall Rush (vox / guitar / piano), Olivia Horrox (drums), Adam Smith (guitar) and Mikey Burton (bass / vox). 'Relapse' is their very second release on fierce panda, and it is taken from their debut panda EP, 'Viewfinder', which is out on November 18th and available to pre-order right now via orcd.co/gardening_viewfinderep

To coincide with that release, GARDENING headline this show here:

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1ST
STOKE NEWINGTON WAITING ROOM
disorder / fierce panda / radio fandango present
GARDENING
+ GUESTS
ADMISSION £6.00 ADVANCE
DICE: link.dice.fm/L8cfc7f76a9b
SEE Tickets: seetickets.com/event/gardening/the-waiting-room/2405548

Every new band should have at least one furiously epic song which unwinds at its own leisurely pace. Gardening have two of them, one of which was previous single '1977', which lasts for five minutes and 51 seconds. But not one of those seconds is wasted as the track builds and builds and builds a little bit more with the tautness of Television and the charm of Teenage Fanclub, all wrapped up in a well worn Guided By Voices t-shirt.

'Relapse' is, by any musical comparison, more economical with the melodic truth, clocking in at just under four minutes. But they still squeeze in a bittersweet symphony's worth of desperation, frustration and yearning over some impeccably-tailored riffage. "You had a tantrum in the ball pit / Spilled your champagne on the cushioned carpet," tuts singer Niall in the eye of the sonic pop storm.

Such is intelligent, instinctive life with Gardening, where power-popping precision is everything, although not without its surprising diversions. Forming in 2019 via website ads, they accidentally became a meta-covid-generation outfit: "Because we never knew each other before the band started, we actually got a lot closer during the pandemic when we swapped out weekday rehearsals for calls, and became something of a support network for each other, which in a way I think has helped us play better together now.

"The thing that really distinguished the early stages was the fact that we always thought we'd get another person to be the singer before I realised no one we auditioned really knew what to do with the music I was writing," blushes Niall, "so I extremely reluctantly got over myself and gave it a proper go, with some (almost) gentle encouragement from the rest of the band. The odd consequence of that is a lot of our songs are some of the first songs I've ever written (so hopefully some indication that we'll continue to improve...)."

Wise words to go with the whip smart music. Go dig the Gardening scene...

instagram.com/wearegardening/