Newcomers and last year’s Bank of Melbourne ‘Melbourne Music Bank’ winners, Tempus Sun have today announced their debut single Owls, an unstoppable powerhouse that is built to embolden listeners and encourage them to discuss their struggles with others, out June 23. The accompanying clip encompasses this completely, making the journey through hardship to come out stronger on the other side. To celebrate, Tempus Sun will be launching the single with a show at The Toff on June 30.
Owls is just one of those songs; it hits you immediately, and doesn’t leave you until long after it is finished. From the gentle acoustic opening, to the crescendo that roars into the final chorus, Tempus Sun have conceived a living, breathing entity, one which offers earnest guidance to the listener: “Speak up, my friend, the time to be heard is now.” Helping to interpret the colossal anthem, lead guitarist Ed Borromeo offers, “Owls is about speaking up about our struggles. It’s a tune relatable to anyone with troubles, be it in the past or ongoing. It was created with mental illness in mind and the intention of influencing people to just have a chat about it with someone. Coming from personal experience, something as simple as having a chat is very easy to disregard as helpful, or is easy to procrastinate on, but I found it to be the first step in combatting almost anything.”
Side by side, the video and track work seamlessly, anchoring the message of Owls assuredly and elegantly. Directed by Edwin Tedjokusumo (Eskimo Joe), the clip boasts epic scenary and stunning underwater shots. Keys player and vocalist from the band Grant Hardisty reflects on the making of the clip, “Our team has really gone to town in producing something visually beautiful, to match the depth and colour in the single. We had a ton of fun driving around the Yarra Valley and searching for filming locations and eventually settled on the beauty of Redwood Forest in Warburton. Combined with a couple of other locations, the story details the positive progression of mental health through the help of something as simple as speaking out.”
Well-deserved winners of 2016’s Melbourne Music Bank competition, Tempus Sun have gratefully reaped the rewards which have enabled them to propel their careers forward like they never could have imagined. Out of hundreds of entries and thousands of public votes, the group took out the top prize which included the EP recording and mixing process, press photos, publicity, radio plugging and much more. Grant enthuses, “Winning Bank of Melbourne’s Melbourne Music Bank was the most exhilarating experience of my life. We entered it on a whim, with an optimistic ‘why not?’ attitude, but we never honestly considered that we’d be a shot. I remember the call so vividly, where I had to leave class to answer and hear the ridiculous news that we had made the Top 12. I replied to Laura on the phone, ‘are you kidding?’ to which she said, ‘that would be a pretty sick joke’!”
The band are set to wow audiences with Owls and much more at their single launch show at The Toff in Town on June 30.
Tempus Sun is Andrew Wortes, Rya Park, Grant Hardisty, Ed Borromeo, Sean Close and Liam Purser
FRI JUNE 30 | THE TOFF IN TOWN, MELBOURNE | 18+
