We have video premiere today from the wonderful Owl & Mouse whose EP Somewhere to Go was premiered on FRUK last year. The band is led by Australian songwriter Hannah Botting, sister of Allo Darlin’ bassist Bill Botting. The release of ‘Octopi’ coincides with the band’s tour of the UK and Norway, joining American label mates The Smittens. They say never work with animals but in their video for Octopi they throw caution to the wind, some look more at ease than others…
The boldly open hearted yet delicate songs come straight out of the same school of Australian songwriting as The Go-Betweens, Triffids and Courtney Barnett, with lyrics that draw on the familiar to talk about the universal difficulties of fond farewells, baggage carousels, and missed connections.
Owl & Mouse began life as a sister act, with Hannah and Jen Botting, before expanding after recording their last EP, to include Tom Wade (We Aeronauts) and the prolific pairing of Emma Winston and Dan Mayfield (Enderby’s Room, Darren Hayman’s Long Parliament).
Singer and ukulele player, Hannah Botting,says of ‘Octopi’:
“This was one of the first songs, or bits of songs that Tom and I wrote together. He had an idea of writing a song about the end of a relationship, when you know it’s over but neither of you will say it yet. He wrote the lyrics to the ending, and told me what he thought it was about and I went away and wrote the rest. I had this image in my head of clearing out a home that you’d shared with someone, trying to make it not look like each other any more.”
‘Octopi’ released as a digital single on Fika Recordings on 06 July 2015
Tour dates
The band are on tour in July, alongside American label mates The Smittens.
July 3rd: Cardiff – Four Bars at Dempsey’s
July 4th: Brighton – The Hope & Ruin (w/ The Smittens, King Of Cats, Moscow Centre)
July 5th: Leeds – Wharf Chambers (w/ The Smittens, The Seven Inches)
July 6th: Nottingham – Spanky Van Dykes (w/ The Smittens)
July 7th: London – The Shacklewell Arms (w/ The Smittens & Tigercats)
July 8th: Moss, Norway (w/ The Smittens)
July 9th: Bergen, Norway (w/ The Smittens)
July 11th & 12th: Indiefjord, Bjorke, Norway (w/ The Smittens, The School, The Just Joans and more)