Pond’s New Single Was Born in a Van Full of Filthy Pigs

Pond have released “Through the Heather,” the latest look at their upcoming album Terrestrials. The album arrives June 19 on Mangovision, and the new song adds a soft, searching layer to what we’ve heard so far.

The track started as an Ableton experiment by drummer James Ireland during a European tour last summer. He and bandmate Jay Watson (Gum) began piecing it together in hotel rooms. Vocalist Nicholas Allbrook remembers the scene less than glamorous: “Funny that such a beautiful, melancholic, searching song was born surrounded by chip packets and track pants in a van full of filthy pigs.”

Allbrook and the band finished the recording at their Seabird porch studio in Western Australia, overlooking the Indian Ocean, with MasterChef playing silently in the corner. They tinkered with spring reverb, pinching the springs to make them BOOM. “Let that be a lesson to all you young rockers,” Allbrook said. “Can’t get too inspiring ya know. Gotta keep a lid on it. Chucking on the telly or making a samwich or having a nap should do it.” The result is a track that carries that specific mood: half dream, half tired backstage afternoon.