Sydney trio Sweetie have shared their new single ‘Pay Rise’, the third single from their forthcoming debut album Dogtooth, due 25 September via Blossom Rot Records.
The release arrives alongside a self-directed video that places the trio inside a miniature pastel cityscape, using a deliberately playful visual world to explore corporate culture and the idea of the “Girlboss”. The band describe the video as a playful take on the millennial feminist figure, with their characters reaching the top of a corporate ladder before ultimately outgrowing the world they have created.
‘Pay Rise’ focuses on the repetitive nature of working life and the tension between personal ambition, consumerism and the realities of contemporary life. Drummer Rikki Clark describes the song as being inspired by her daily train commute and the feeling of moving through a repetitive cycle of corporate life.
The track follows Sweetie’s recent singles ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Dogtooth’, offering another preview of the sound that runs through the band’s debut full-length.
Recorded with Australian producer Anna Laverty, whose production credits include Courtney Barnett, Folk Bitch Trio and Peep Tempel, Dogtooth was mixed by Wade Keighran and mastered by George Nicholas. The 11-track album draws from post-punk, gothic country and rock, with the band incorporating gothic Australian narratives, mythic archetypes and themes surrounding late capitalism.
Sweetie formed during the 2020 lockdowns, with Lily Keenan, Rikki Clark and guitarist Lucy Warriner starting the band with the aim of learning how to play music. Their first single, ‘Boundary Queen’, arrived in 2021, followed by the EPs Collision and Punch the Shark. The releases were produced by Cloud Control’s Alister Wright and Party Dozen’s Jonathan Boulet respectively, and released through Blossom Rot Records.
The band’s music has received airplay from BBC Radio, triple j, Double J and community radio, while Sweetie have shared stages with Tops, Body Type, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Murlocs, Polish Club, The Black Lips and Floodlights. They have also appeared at festivals alongside Arctic Monkeys and Lil Nas X and played sold-out headline shows.
Dogtooth arrives on 25 September, with Sweetie set to take the album on the road across Australia’s east coast later in the year.
Dogtooth Album Tour
30 October — Junk Bar, Brisbane/Meanjin
8 November — The Servo, Port Kembla/Dharawal
14 November — Thornbury Bowlo, Melbourne/Naarm
28 November — Heaps Normal Health Club, Sydney/Gadigal
Dogtooth is out 25 September via Blossom Rot Records.
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