Brisbane outfit Toy Balloon will release their debut album Toy Division on November 8 through Lofly Records, and to celebrate will perform an east coast launch tour throughout November.
Catch Toy Balloon on Thursday 29 October at The Zoo in Brisbane, Wednesday 4 November at Spectrum in Sydney, Thursday 5 November at Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney, and Saturday 7 November at Pony in Melbourne, before winding up the tour on Sunday 8 November with an all ages gig at El Joyero in Melbourne.
Formed in 2007, Toy Balloon was originally a fledgling two-piece made up by Nimai Etheridge’s uniquely melodic wall-of-sound guitar and Greg Cooper’s beautiful sequenced electronic compositions. The band have since matured into a four piece featuring Chloe Cooper (Mr Maps) on key boards and Ben Green on drums.
Toy Division is the result of a year-long studio collaboration with Brisbane-based producer Phil Laidlaw (aheadphonehome). Featuring nine tracks of fractured electro-pop disco jams with strong post-rock and shoegaze undertones, Toy Division also features the sublime vocals of Helen Franzmann (McKisko) who appears on tracks ‘Broken Little Nothing’ and ‘Disco Cassette Freakout’.
The album was recorded and mixed at the Lofly Hangar in Brisbane, a DIY performance space that Toy Balloon has been an integral part of creating. Fostering emerging artists and left-of-centre music, the Hangar acts as a performance space, recording studio, and meeting place; and has resulted in a record with a rich, layered sound reminiscent of New Order, Mogwai, Boards of Canada, and LCD Soundsystem.
Catch Toy Balloon launch Toy Division at a venue near you this November.
Brisbane
Thursday 29 October – The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
With Tin Can Radio, Parties of Interzone and Doom Doom
Sydney
Wednesday 4 November – ‘Upstarts’ at Spectrum, Darlinghurst
With Convaire and Brown Bear Black Bear
Thursday 5 November – Oxford Arts Factory, Darlinghurst
With World Champion
Melbourne
Saturday 7 November – Pony, Melbourne
With Aoi and special guests to be announced
Sunday 8 November – El Joyero, Melbourne (all ages)
With special guests to be announced