There are plenty of things about the COVID-19 pandemic that we would all rather forget. There are others that are still emerging through art, through works that have had time to marinate and now found their way into the world.
The new single from Melbourne country-folk band Team Love had its origins during the pandemic, as it was written by singer Ruby McGrath-Lester and guitarist Shaun Stolk as part of a songwriting challenge amongst friends and local artists living in the one of the most locked-down parts of the world.
‘A Little Bit Lonely’ is about ‘those times and how everyone was feeling lonely and isolated,’ says McGrath-Lester. ‘But for others, it was just a continuation of loneliness they felt prior to the pandemic. Now other people were on their level.’
The song was recorded at the same time as the band’s second album, Now Things Ain’t Coloured Rose, which was released last year. It was one of several tracks that didn’t make the record – and it’s the first of those tracks to be released as a single, with others to follow.
Listen to ‘A Little Bit Lonely’ on Bandcamp
The song is having its premiere here today, and is a great introduction to Team Love’s sound if you’re not already familiar with them. From the start McGrath-Lester’s vocal is plaintive yet strong, which befits the lyric: ‘I’ve never had things quite under my control/But I don’t try to rein it in any more’. When she sings ‘I’ve always been a little bit lonely’, we believe her – then during the first chorus she’s joined by another voice, then more and more. We realise that the song is not so much a cry for help as an acknowledgement of a state of being that is also in a state of change – for the better.
The release of the single also marks the tenth anniversary of Team Love, of which McGrath-Lester says: ‘I remember back at the start of 2016 when Paddy suggested that George (who used to be in the band) and I do a duo show supporting his band Masco Sound System at the Golden Vine Hotel in Bendigo. I remember spending years wanting to get up and do music and seeing other friends do it and feeling I had missed my chance.
‘A few months on from this, Ruby Cat and Monique joined in and it’s gone from there. That we are still going ten years later feels absolutely wild. And it’s very cliché, but that it’s never too late to take a chance. It makes me feel really grateful to Paddy and George for that initial push, and everyone who has been in Team Love, and who have supported the band.’
Listen to ‘A Little Bit Lonely’
SINGLE CREDITS
Ruby McGrath-Lester – vocals
Ruby Cattell – violin, backing vocals
Monique Bricknell – keys
Shaun Stolk – guitar
Paddy McGrath-Lester – drums, backing vocals
Tom Thomas – bass
Recorded and mixed by Jake Holmes
Mastered by Joe Carra (Crystal Mastering)
TEAM LOVE ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Saturday, October 3 @ Shotkickers, Thornbury VIC
w/ Captain Beep Boop, the Mightiest of Guns, Rosie Excess, The Clags
TICKETS
