SINGLE REVIEW | DIVORCE – ANTARTICA by Martha Munro

2024 has been a year of exposure and excitement for the newly-rising Nottingham-based band DIVORCE. From a flurry of international festivals and support slots with Bombay Bicycle Club, Everything Everything and The Vaccines, to their own UK headline tour, members Tiger Cohen-Towell, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, Kasper Sandstrøm and Adam Peter-Smith have been sharing their love, life and lyrical mastery with countless new crowds – and they haven’t stopped there.

Antarctica emerges amid the rapturous reception of DIVORCE’s latest release All My Freaks – the lead single of their debut album Drive To Goldenhammer, coming in March of next year – but this new track certainly won’t be overshadowed. With Mackenzie-Barrow’s immersive songwriting, Cohen-Towell’s enchanting harmonies and the easy musicality of the whole song, Antarctica sets this genre-hopping, heartstring-tugging band apart from the others climbing the crowded indie-rock ladder.

Pre-Order ***Drive To Goldenhammer*** – March 7th 2025

The fast-paced thump of the drumbeat kicks off the track, soon elevated by the soft strums, sliding volume, and breezy reverb of the electric guitar. The bassline ripples beneath this to establish the foundational landscape of Antarctica and the band’s seemingly effortless mastery of musicality.

Felix Mackenzie-Barrow sings his story in the first verse with a soft and rugged quality, heavily reminiscent of the soothing croon of The National. Mackenzie-Barrow, while dealing with lost love on the road with DIVORCE, found solace in the thought of Antarctica, a continent that actualises peace and indifference – a place of meditation for a burdened mind. The singer’s navigation of pain and love is heightened by Tiger Cohen-Towell’s smooth, soprano harmonies that melt with the gentle melody to give a lyrical, pastoral feel, like a drive along country roads.

Decidedly upbeat, the energy is picked up through all the elements of Antarctica for its folky chorus, a musical mosaic of pain, beauty, love and time. The country infusions here have an Adrianne-Lenker-esque quality, as well as the introspection powering the lyrics and sound. Briefly taking centre-stage is the electric guitar, tinkering expertly with the scales and lines of the song before Mackenzie-Barrow’s smoky voice returns for the second verse.

This section is the epitome of vulnerability. The intertwining vocalists recount the memory of coming across an escaped newborn calf on an empty road: the frailty and innocence of the calf; the desperate sound of the cow’s mother’s call; the teamwork and care taken to return it to safety; the emotional state of shock the encounter left the both of them in. To DIVORCE, the surprises of life and nature are always meaningful, and the focus on memory in their music is a powerful illustration of this. At the end of this narrative second verse, most of the instrumental lines take a step back to isolate the voices of Felix and Tiger, inviting the listener to feel with them that shared experience of a too-real reality.

We also hear the introduction of strings here, bringing a chamber pop quality akin to Phoebe Bridgers and deepening the pastoral feel of the song as we move into the next chorus. The refrain has become even more emotive following the moving storytelling of Mackenzie-Barrow. Sandstrøm picks up the beat of the drums, the vocals become stronger, and the sound branches further off into this peaceful, painful dreamscape, ending with an instrumental section. The song’s every tune, tone and melody line is used as a springboard to capture Antarctica’s character even further, with a tip-toeing guitar line and calming classical strings, drawing the track to a satisfying close.

Antarctica is the song you’ll have on a loop through the winter months, an expressive masterpiece that engraves DIVORCE’s sharp talent and warm character into the memory. It is assured and sensitive, raw and real, even when expressing a desire to leave an overwhelming reality – especially then.

This is an act you definitely don’t want to miss as they rise through the ranks, so secure your tickets for their 2025 ‘Drive to Goldenhammer’ European tour this Friday 22nd November!