Exclusive Single Premiere: The Bats “No Trace” taken from the NZ legend’s ninth LP The Deep Set

Ahead of their Australian tour next month, The Bats have unveiled a new tune from their forthcoming ninth LP, The Deep Set (out January 27 on Flying Nun), “No Trace”, which feels like an instant classic from this iconic New Zealand band. Today, the AU are excited to present the Australian exclusive premiere of the track.

Between this track and the already released “Antlers”, The Deep Set is shaping up to be an album which delivers everything we love about The Bats: the emotion, the powerful guitars, the melancholy, the catchy-as-hell melodies, and then some. It’s proof that even in the band’s fourth decade (with the same four members, I might add), they aren’t resting on their laurels, and are intent on creating music which remains as relevant as ever, while toying with just the right amount of nostalgia that keeps bringing us back.

The album – and the track – comes five years after the release of their last acclaimed record, Free All the Monsters, and 30 years since The Bats began recording their debut album in the living room studio of a friend of a friend in Glasgow. This time around they recorded in The Sitting Room, the studio-sleep out-garage next to Ben Edward’s house in Lyttelton, New Zealand; following in the footsteps of Marlon Williams, Nadia Reid and many others.

Listen to the track here:

Sydney Festival audiences can revel in this track, and plenty more, when The Bats premiere The Deep Set in full at the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, accompanied by a string section, in January. The band will also be flying into Melbourne for an album launch show at Northcote Social Club with handpicked local luminaries Loose Tooth+ School Damage. The tour dates are below!

MELBOURNE: Saturday 28 January @ Northcote Social Club. The Deep Set album launch with special guests Loose Tooth+ School Damage. Tickets on sale now from NSC.

SYDNEY: Sunday 29 January @ Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Sydney Festival. The Bats perform The Deep Set in full, followed by a “greatest hits” set. Tickets on sale now from Sydney Festival.

The Deep Set is out January 27 on Flying Nun.

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Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.