THE MILLION DROP THEIR NEW SINGLE & VIDEO ‘LAST CALL’ - PRODUCED BY NOTHING BUT THIEVES FOUNDER-MEMBER DOM CRAIK
Photo Credit: Jess Gleeson
The Million today drop their new single and video ‘Last Call’; a track that draws on ‘80s synth-pop, leaping along at a heart-raising tempo. It’s a heartbreak anthem but the sounds are liberating, leaving all bad feelings on the dancefloor.
‘Last Call’ is produced by Nothing But Thieves founder-member Dom Craik. His most recent productions include tracks for Demob Happy & co-producing the latest NBT record “Moral Panic” with Mike Crossey. Lead singer and lyricist Jacob Thomas says of the new single, “Last Call is a fictitious song built from genuine emotions, it was written when I was still in the early stages of dating my still current girlfriend. I thought to myself what if I really messed this good thing up?
The song was started with Lucy Taylor, Chris Collins, and Jay and I in a room. Then having Dom add the final touches on the production really elevated where the song needed to be. “
Dom explains working on ‘Last Call’ with The Million, “I wanted to take the band’s vision and expand on it. It was a challenge working out how the rhythm section in the chorus would function best. Lots of experimenting with sidechaining the bass to create room for the kick. Once this fundamental groove was set it was about matching the vocal to the same pocket as the bass. Once they were aligned the song really started to come alive.”
For the official video, the emerging Central Coast group worked with Ash Lim (Cat & Calmell, Young Franco, CXLOE, Jaguar Jonze) who directed and produced the story-based clip.
“Working with The Million was an absolutely pleasure from the second we had our first call. It's always a pleasant experience when, the artist and director, are progressively getting excited from bouncing ideas off each other. Fun fact when we were choosing an outfit for Jacob, we had a choice between a: mustard/ketchup bottle, crab, taco or a whoopee cushion. I hope you enjoy 'Last Call' and the outfit we chose!”, says Ash of the video which features all four members.
‘Last Call’ is the first release for The Million with newly anointed fourth member, McKinley Payne, who’s already been a touring member for 2 years. According to Thomas, “He’s always there. He’s always on time. He’s always providing feedback,” and so his permanent appointment was a “no brainer”. McKinley now joins Thomas, drummer Jay Stewart and bassist Tamon Mashino, as the band’s guitarist.
With just one EP and a handful of singles The Million have accumulated over 2.5 million streams. ‘Last Call’ follows on from single ‘Somebody Better’ – a track grounded in funk & RnB sensibilities, while remaining fundamentally pop – and last year’s release ‘Check Up’, a left-field pop earworm with its choose your own adventure 8-bit game inspired music video. The Million’s music has seen support from triple j, community radio, Apple Music playlists - Heaps Indie, Alt Pop, New Music Daily - and Spotify’s New Noise, Indie Arrivals and The New Alt.
In late 2020, The Million supported indie-pop artist Sloan Peterson and quickly sold out two seated headline shows, welcoming them back to the stage after a brief break, thanks to the global pandemic. Like most, they’re eager to bring their lively new tunes to a standing audience and “thrive off that energy,” as Thomas says.
Watch the official video for Last Call here