By Alex

As far as pop pairings go, The Wombats and Drake are a pretty strange combo. But against all odds, the Canadian rapper was part of the inspiration for the group’s latest single, the laid-back ‘Turn’. Channelling Drake’s mellow vibe, the Liverpool trio bask in sunny bliss with lead singer Matthew ‘Murph’ Murphy declaring “It won’t get better than this.”

Speaking to Zane Lowe, Murph explained the song was inspired by listening to Drake while relaxing by a swimming pool with his wife: “There was a lot of kind of imagery from that day which felt good to use for a song,” he added. Drake even gets a namedrop in the song itself: “Listening to Drake at your best friends swimming pool / Floating anti-clockwise in a red mushroom.” And if you listen very carefully, you can even hear a hint of ‘Passionfruit’ in the faint dancehall chirp around the 27 seconds mark. But despite the chilled-out poolside vibes, the band aren’t ready to abandon the hectic past just yet, the group looking back at troubled times with fond memories as Murph sighs “Maybe it’s the crazy that I miss.”

‘Turn’ is a far more relaxed offering than the group’s last single, the up-tempo ‘Lemon To A Knife Fight‘. The first single from their upcoming album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life was a more typical Wombats affair, while ‘Turn’ is a little more unexpected. The quirky lyrics are still here, but the rhythm is less urgent, the band content to careen along at a slower pace. While their earliest releases suggested an adolescent fervour, ‘Turn’ is the sound of The Wombats all grown up, taking a break from the frantic indie bops to soak in some bittersweet nostalgia.

@alexsnorris