Big Words Release 'Speed Racer' Single & Annouce Debut Album

The new album will be released on May 26.

By: Mar. 30, 2023
Big Words Release 'Speed Racer' Single & Annouce Debut Album
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Fast-rising Australian band Big Words have released their new single "Speed Racer" alongside the announcement of their anticipated debut album Nightmares of a Stardom Dream - out May 26 via Believe.

Lsten to "Speed Racer," a surreal, intoxicating memory whose glitchy, Steve Lacy and Prince-inspired alt-R&B sound explores themes of intoxicating lust and the hollows of loss that follow abandoned desire. PRESS HERE to pre-save Nightmares of a Stardom Dream.

Recorded over two years across three different studios, Nightmares of a Stardom Dream is an honest representation of the band's lived experiences that sways from psychedelic-soul grooves to alt-R&B bops to cosmic folk to infectious indie-pop. Expanding on the cult success and critical-acclaim that followed their debut EP Hollywood, A Beautiful Coincidence, Big Words have benefited from taking the long way around - giving their debut album time to breathe and develop a sense of unhurried yearning.

"The title of the album alludes to just how hard it is to commit to being an artist... a relevant sentence for us and maybe anyone who's been working through their 20s on a music career, figuring all that stuff out," explains Will. "It's very overwhelming."

Dramatically switching up their sound, "Speed Racer" follows the recent release of single "You're So Wonderful," an easygoing, short-distance sprint through what love has to offer inspired by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Amy Winehouse which reminds us that all romantic relationships are beautiful, even when cut short.

"'Speed Racer' was one of the first songs made on the album, in a manic spiral of creativity off a high from selling out our biggest show yet pre-COVID," Will continues. "My car was towed twice that week from being parked in loading zones and forgetting about it due to being so focused on the music. I made the synth the first day and, after recording it, I haven't ever been able to get the settings the same again.

This was maybe the first song I produced solely on my own from start to finish and the outro section was recorded in one take. Truly having no idea what I was doing really turns out the best music sometimes."

Writing songs that pull at the thread of life in your 20s to delve into their own experiences including love, doubt, anxiety, and courage, multi-instrumentalists and singers Will and Kieren and drummer Teon celebrate the poetry and authenticity of day-to-day life by embracing their unpolished, imperfect humanity. Documenting their coming of age through their music, Big Words lead with human connection at the forefront of their art to make memories.

Garnering millions of global streams and earning acclaim from NME, Earmilk, Wonderland, Atwood Magazine, Flaunt, and more for creating music that soundtracks moments in people's lives, Big Words released their mixtape Cherry - a lockdown induced diversion which embraced experimental imperfections - and their 2017 debut EP Hollywood, A Beautiful Coincidence which saw the band establish an international following with standout tracks "The Answer" and "Soul Jam."

Meeting through their mutual love and fascination for music, Big Words worked on their craft in between shifts at work, bouncing songs and ideas off one another and spending their nights making plans, but the music itself was the organic result of pulling together each member's diverse musical inspirations.

With their earlier raw and more acoustic songs, Big Words began melding their love of singer-producers, hip-hop beats, and obsession with melody with their influences which range from Feist to Frank Sinatra, Empire of The Sun to The Beach Boys, to Travis Scott and more.

Listen to the new single here:

Photo credit: Kimberly Canales



Videos