Strange Talk

Australia's Strange Talk craft emotive indie-electronic pop that merges 1980s new-wave elements with modern dance production values. After generating early interest through several singles that attracted widespread attention, the Melbourne ensemble entered the Australian pop charts with their 2013 debut album Cast Away. A five-song EP appeared in 2015, preceding the September 2021 arrival of their second full-length, Speech Therapy.

Singer and keyboardist Stephen Docker and producer, DJ, and bassist Gerard Sidhu initially launched Strange Talk as a bedroom recording project. The lineup later expanded into a full band with the addition of guitarist Gillan Gregory and drummer Travis Constable. Their electro-pop style has drawn comparisons to Passion Pit, Phoenix, and Cut Copy. Public recognition arrived in 2010 when the group served as a featured artist in a competition run by Australia's Triple J radio station. They issued their self-titled debut EP in April 2011, then reached the top of Billboard's newly created Uncharted chart later that year on the strength of the singles "Eskimo Boy" and "Climbing Walls." Following multiple successful national tours and festival performances, the members retreated to a farm a couple of hours outside Melbourne to compose and track material for their first album. Recording concluded by spring 2012, after which Tony Hoffer (Beck, Phoenix, M83) was brought in to handle mixing. Sony Music Australia released the resulting album Cast Away in February 2013, where it peaked at number 56 on the Australian charts. Later in 2013 the band signed with Wind-Up Entertainment, which issued Cast Away internationally in spring 2014. Now reduced once more to the duo of Docker and Sidhu, Strange Talk released the EP E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. in 2015. The full-length Speech Therapy followed in September 2021.