Loose Fit's New EP Is Out Today On Dinosaur City

The notion of being open to sublimity and grace, while reconciling with the grief and despair that surrounds you, is a tension that snakes through Loose Fit’s exhilarating new EP Bittersweet Excess out now on Dinosaur City.

On this new collection of songs, Eora/Sydney-based quartet Loose Fit (Kaylene Milner, Max Edgar, Richard Martin and Anna Langdon) expand their tightly wound post-punk sound, collaborating closely with musician, producer and DJ Hugh Burridge (Hugh B). Across the EP’s four tracks, the group explore deeper dub production techniques, settling into looser grooves that feel both tough and slinky. These spacious explorations are complemented by the figurative imagery of vocalist and saxophonist Anna Langdon, whose lyrics, she says, “span much more dreamy and ethereal territory than our previous work, dipping into prophetic visions, myths and philosophy.”

But make no mistake, this metaphysical bent has not softened Loose Fit’s sound. The EP is awash with razor-sharp guitars, dubby bass and mutant dance-punk. Then there are the vocals, which oscillate between bodily, screechy yelps and wry deadpan. Take the woozy ‘Cracked Whip’ which captures how lust can reconfigure one’s reality and subconscious. The song overflows with glorious, surreal images – fish transforming into men, a black rose set alight, and two moons circling one another. The instruments stutter and strut through this dreamy landscape, while the vocals taunt and tease: “Where did you come from? Come back to me!”

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“It’s a wild rodeo. Many of the lyrics in that track were written inside my motorcycle helmet when I was flogging it along coastal roads in Newcastle, which probably comes through energetically,” says Langdon.

Feelings of fear and desire similarly coarse through EP focus single, ‘Feel Ya Shiver’. A brooding track where reverbed vocals bounce around the mix, a saxophone solo peers into the abyss and guitars dreamily pitch themselves skyward. The song chronicles an uneasily still evening, where the air feels freighted with doom. “Hugh added atmospheric tinkles and dreamy textures, while accentuating the delay of my vocals in certain moments, which made the track even more beautiful,” says Langdon.

On the record’s other two tracks, society’s ruinous relationship to excess and productivity take centre stage. ‘Diminishing Returns’ is about the blight of busyness for busyness’ sake; running around for no reason except for internalised pressures. The song channels that mad scramble in howled lyrics and jittery drums and guitar. Title track, ‘Bittersweet Excess’, meanwhile, is a sinister, dubby dismissal of modern insatiability. Driven by a propulsive, catchy bassline and deadpan vocals, the track explores the paradox of having more than we need, yet never feeling satiated. It highlights the irony of searching for belonging in spaces where human presence is expendable compared to capital, critiquing the hoard of surplus wealth that poisons the collective spirit. The only solution? “To let it go,” as Langdon intones.

Loose Fit formed in 2017. The band was born out of a friendship between Milner (Wah-Wah) and Langdon, who had met at fashion design school years earlier. The band's previous releases include their self-titled debut EP (2018) and full-length album Social Graces (2022), released by FatCat Records and Spunk to acclaim from The Line of Best Fit (Song of the Day), NME, Clash, Rough Trade (On the Rise), So Young, KEXP, WFMU and community radio across Australia. Live, they have supported artists including Kid Congo, Parquet Courts, Tropical Fuck Storm and EXEK.

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