GUM SHARES NEW SINGLE + VIDEO AIRWALKIN’ + FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM OUT IN THE WORLD OUT TODAY
Photo credit: Sam Kristofski
“Out In The World is Watson’s most seamless body of work to date, an animated but dreamy relief in a world where it is hard to find it right now."
- CLASH | 8/10
“..a quirky blast of psychedelia..”
- STEREOGUM
"..these songs showcase Watson spreading his wings as a considerate, imaginative songwriter.."
- NME
Today, GUM aka Jay Watson releases his new album Out In The World via Spinning Top Records | Caroline Australia. The Tame Impala and POND multi-instrumentalist marks the release with evocative new single Airwalkin’. Directed by Alex McLaren, the accompanying video fuses animation and claymation in a technicolour spectacle.
Inspired by Stevie Wonder, Dilla and Beck, Airwalkin’ dances under a full moon of palpating groove and unbridled ambition. “This song is trying to capture the feeling of walking around my rural town with my Discman as a teenager, completely self-conscious about the way I look but completely feeling myself at the same time, “ says Watson of the track.
An eternal student of sound and song, Out In The World is GUM’s fifth solo album in almost as many years. The LP was written and recorded at home in Fremantle, in addition to stealing studio time between his commitments with POND and Tame Impala. Watson’s ever omnivorous taste for styles, sounds and eras coupled with his ongoing quest to make sense of this madness we call life, has gifted his most potent, vibrant GUM album to date. Out In The World is available in digital formats as well as limited edition baby blue 12” vinyl here.
"This album is my attempt at making a record that combines my fascination of how other people live their lives, with my own internal desire to analyse mine and improve it, muses Watson. Out In The World was a phrase that conjured a lot of grandeur and ego, yet somehow felt really small and wholesome at the same time," he adds.
Approaching recording as a casual yet consistent practice, Watson returns with new GUM material like clockwork, and Out In The World was already percolating at the time of his last release, 2018's The Underdog. Watson nods to an era before his time with wide-eyed wonder, doing justice to the originals while upgrading the gene pool to a hardier, more robust profile for 2020, as evident in the darkly toned title track and first single Out In The World and recent album track Don’t Let It Go Out.
A restless digestion of life and music, Out In The World hums with ideas and a burning desire to shine a light on the unknown. Searching for coherence in the chaos of modern life, Watson thrives on our collective confusion with reverence and riffs.
GUM has performed as special guest for Mac DeMarco, Mini Mansions and Angel Olsen, in addition to sold-out shows in Australia and packed rooms across Europe, the UK and USA.