Stung!

Stung! is the tenth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band Pond. It was released on 21 June 2024 via Spinning Top. It is the band's first double album, and as their tenth release, serves as a de facto celebration of everything the band had previously accomplished with their prior albums. Upon its release, Stung! mainly received acclaim from music critics.

Stung!
Studio album by Pond
Released	21 June 2024
Studio	Jay Watson's backyard studio (Fremantle) Tone City (Perth)
Length	54:32
Label	Spinning Top
Producer	Pond
Pond chronology
9 (2021) Stung! (2024)
Singles from Stung!
"Neon River" Released: 31 January 2024 "(I'm) Stung" Released: 27 March 2024 "So Lo" Released: 28 May 2024

It peaked at 49 on the ARIA Charts.

Background

According to front man Nick Allbrook, he wrote most of the record's lead single, "(I'm) Stung", while "mowing someone's lawn", furthermore elaborating that:

I went home and put my fingers on the piano and pretty much played the base of it first go. This is a very rare and special treat and buoyed me for weeks. It's funny because I had a mad crush on someone, and they dropped me like a sack of shit and this song just flew down and clocked me right in the forehead and I felt totally better. Then Gin and Gum added all their magic – cool sounds, passing chords.. It's about being totally pathetically stung by someone and just having to be cool with it being unrequited. Being resilient, accepting that you are a bit of a goose, but life goes on.

The record was initially recorded in multi-instrumentalist Jay Watson's backyard studio, but was eventually taken to a studio in Dunsborough, Western Australia where they "swam during the day and recorded at night". Specific influences for the record include Fleetwood Mac's Tusk and Prince's Sign o' the Times.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	8/10
DIY
Mojo
Exclaim!	6/10
Rolling Stone Australia

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Stung! received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from 8 critic scores.

Reviewing the album for Allmusic, Fred Thomas called it, "another hard-to-categorize but easy-to-enjoy chapter in Pond's ever-changing story. It's full of melodies made for both sunny summer days and solitary, reflective walks, and often changes gears with little notice." James Jennings of Rolling Stone Australia praised Stung!, giving it a 4/5. They described the album as a "obscure psychedelic pop gem from another era". Specific highlights Jennings noted included the lead single "(I'm Stung)", which was described as a "glam-funk stomper", "Neon River", which was described as a "seventies rock freak out", and the "epic centerpiece", "Edge of the World Pt. 3".

Another favorable review by Brad Sked of DIY stated that the album showcased a "blending evolution within their artistry, while still keeping in touch with their otherworldly roots". Some tracks they note include the opener "Constant Picnic", which Sked noted as meandering "towards the ethereal with a surreal, synth-disco-pop ballad that's an ideal summer soundtrack". "Edge of the World Pt. 3" was also a major highlight which they believed at times veered towards acid jazz and is intertwined with space rock. They also noted that it sounded akin to the works of former drummer and producer Kevin Parker and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.

A less favourable review by Matthew Teklemarian of Exclaim! gave the record a 6/10. They described the record as being more "ebb and flow, muted in disposition and hyperactivity". Some of the highlights include "Constant Picnic", "Neon River", and "So Lo". Overall, they believe that while the first two-thirds are well paced, the record falls apart in the last third, describing it as "where indistinct sanguine ballads are sent to die. A hitherto expertly controlled buzz is bogged down by demos fleshed out in perfunctory fashion".

Track listing

Stung! track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Constant Picnic"	James Ireland Nicholas Allbrook Jay Watson	3:29
2.	"(I'm) Stung"	Allbrook Ireland Watson	3:55
3.	"Neon River"	Watson Allbrook	4:12
4.	"So Lo"	Watson Allbrook	3:48
5.	"Black Lung"	Ireland Watson Allbrook	4:28
6.	"Sunrise for the Lonely"	Allbrook	3:30
7.	"Elf Bar Blues"	Ireland	2:06
8.	"Edge of the World Pt. 3"	Watson Allbrook Joseph Ryan Ireland	8:07
9.	"Stars In Silken Sheets"	Ryan Allbrook	0:35
10.	"Boys Don't Crash"	Watson Allbrook	3:46
11.	"O' UV Ray"	Ryan Allbrook Watson	4:15
12.	"Last Elvis"	Allbrook Ireland Watson	3:34
13.	"Elephant Gun"	Allbrook Ireland	3:16
14.	"Fell from Grace With the Sea"	Ryan Allbrook	5:17
Total length:			54:25

Personnel

Pond

• Nick Allbrook – production, engineering (all tracks); vocals (tracks 1–6, 8–14), guitar (2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 13), keyboards (8), bass guitar (12)
• James Ireland – production, mixing, engineering (all tracks); drums (tracks 1–3, 7, 13), keyboards (1, 2, 4, 8, 10–13), vocals (2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 14), bass guitar (4, 7), vocoder (5), guitar (7), piano (9)
• Joseph Ryan – production, engineering (all tracks); guitar (tracks 2, 3, 5, 8–11), vocals (4, 8, 10, 11), keyboards (8, 12, 14)
• Jamie Terry – production, engineering (all tracks); keyboards (2, 8), bass guitar (3, 5), percussion (9), vocals (10, 11, 14)
• Jay Watson – production, mixing, engineering (all tracks); guitar (1–8, 10–14), keyboards (1–8, 10–13), vocals (1–6, 10–14), drums (1, 6, 8, 10–14), bass guitar (5, 8, 10, 11, 14), glockenspiel (7, 9)

Additional contributors

• Joe Carra – mastering
• Sam Ford – engineering
• Reine Fiske – guitar solo, guitar engineering (track 8)
• Thea Woodward – saxophone, saxophone engineering (track 8)
• Jack Watson – outro vocals (track 10)
• James Richardson – French horn, trumpet, horn engineering (track 11)
• Sam Kristofski – photography
• Michael Tartaglia – inner sleeve band photo
• Pollen Arts Club – design

Charts

Chart performance for Stung!

Chart (2021)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	49