After enduring the heartbreaking loss of their bandmate and close friend Nick Weaver, The Tambourine Girls have re-emerged from the fog of grief with a stirring new single, ‘Wrong Way’ — a dreamy, synth-laced reflection on absence, resilience, and what it means to begin again.
Written during a quiet retreat to a shed on the outskirts of Armidale, NSW, the song was born the first night the band picked up their instruments again, unsure if they still had it in them. “We didn’t know if we could be a band anymore,” confesses frontman Simon Reif. “So we decided to pretend we were a new band.”
The Tambourine Girls – ‘Wrong Way’
That choice—to start over without erasing the past—sparked something real. Built around breezy grooves, swirling synths, and Reif’s gently raw vocals, ‘Wrong Way’ feels like the sound of healing in real time.
It arrives alongside lo-fi B-side ‘Clown In The Dirt’, a meditative flip-side that hints at the full emotional spectrum the band are now navigating.
“This song echoes the fork in the road we were standing at,” bassist and producer Pat Harris explains. “We knew giving up would be easy—the wrong way. But carrying on without Nick… that was harder. And more honest.”
Rather than replacing Nick, the trio chose to let him remain in the negative space—an absence that still shapes their sound. “He was the bar we set ourselves against,” Reif adds. “Now he’s this negative space we swim in. He’s still there.”
The band will celebrate the release with a one-off intimate show at The Factory Floor in Eora/Sydney on Friday, 15th August.
You can peep the ticketing details down below, or take ‘Wrong Way’ and ‘Clown In The Dirt’ for a spin up above.
The Tambourine Girls ‘Wrong Way’ Single Launch
- Friday, 15th August – The Factory Floor, Sydney/Eora – Tickets available now here
Further Reading
Posthumous Nick Weaver Project ‘Salmon Brothers’ Share Full-Length Album
Love Letter To A Record: Nick Weaver’s Mum Helen On His Posthumous Album, ‘Won’t Let Go’
Nick Weaver, Of Sydney Band Deep Sea Arcade, Has Died Aged 37
