Naarm/Melbourne based indie group, The Belair Lip Bombs, have continued their winning streak of new releases for 2023, sharing their latest single, ‘Stay Or Go’. Taken from the band’s debut album LUSH LIFE (released August 25th), ‘Stay Or Go’ further cements the group as an exciting band to watch; and a dynamic group of songwriters and instrumentalists, at that.

‘Stay Or Go’, following on from The Belair Lip Bombs’ previous singles ‘Gimme Gimme’, ‘Say My Name’ and ‘Look The Part’ revels in some brilliantly refined ‘90s rock influences, while planting both feet very much in a musical territory that is fresh and sonically the band’s own.

For ‘Stay Or Go’, The Belair Lip Bombs recorded the track between Head Gap and Singing Bird studios. Working with Nao Anzai (Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, The Teskey Brothers) on mixing and mastering, the band developed ‘Stay Or Go’ after songwriter Maisie Everett brought their initial idea for the bassline to the group. The track is exemplary of The Belair Lip Bombs’ tight work; fleshing each layer of instrumentation and songwriting out together has made for a concise final effort.

“Lyrically, [it] reflects the struggle of feeling trapped and questioning whether to stay or seek something new, a common theme on the album or at least in my head when I think of this album. It’s a playful song. It’s short and sweet and with a bouncy bassline and dueling guitars that play off each other,” says Maisie.

“I remember we showed it to someone in the early stages of jamming it, and they said it reminded them of Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks. At the time of writing the song, all I had been listening to was Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks. But strangely enough, I can’t hear that at all in this song. Dunno. Knowing what your own music sounds like is one of the hardest things to figure out.”