Sydney-based indie outfit The Flowers have rolled out another toe tapping tune this year – the fourth single in their catalogue. Since their 2019 debut single 'Truly Madly Sleepy' and follow ups 'Origami' and 'Summer Saviour', the quartet have been Triple J darlings and a staple of alt-radio.
Linking up with the glittery Sarah Wolfe, their recent indie-pop ballad '100 times' went down a treat with listeners. Having also opened for the likes of Great Gable, Jess Day and Timi Temple, as well as headlining Vic in the Park, (pre-apocalyptic pandemic) shows these kids are no strangers to collaboration.
That goes doubly for production. Fresh single 'You Don't Say!' was produced by the four-time ARIA award winning Pete Holtz, known for his work with the big names of Aus music (think Gang of Youths, Peking Duck and Vance Joy).
'You Don't Say!' is a punchy anthem of sarcastic revelation and tired yearning. A rollicking melody and power guitar fuels vocalist Agnes O'Dwyer's soaring lyrics about how she is almost, nearly, kind-of at a place where she can love herself.
It's not difficult to imagine the teen protagonist of a 90's rom-com blasting this from her charmingly beat up car as she pulls into the high-school carpark. Except this character is itching-ly self-aware and is trying to jerk out of the depressive nose-dive that follows trying to fit yourself into a societal mould.
“’You Don’t Say!’ is about struggling with body image,” she said. “It’s essentially me yelling cause I’m kinda mad about how much it has ruined my life."
“Some of us are our own worst critics – this song is about striking back against self doubt and deciding to love yourself a little more. I don’t want to make self love sound easy, or make it seem like I’ve got it all figured out – the song talks more about taking small steps.”
'You Don't Say!' has a heart-clenching poeticism underneath its twirling, zappy energy. Listening to O'Dwyer sing that she "doesn't want to be a casualty of her own body" and hopes to "love herself a little more now", tugs at feelings you weren't expecting to surface when hearing the first lively chords.
Licked from their upcoming debut EP, this single gives a clear taste of whats to come for The Flowers, the aptly self described creators of happy-sad music for happy-sad people.
Listen to 'You Don't Say!' here: