Beloved Melbourne indie rock band Ceres are back with one hell of a single called “Want / Need” and a bunch of tour dates this July. Ceres’ blissful new song is out now via Cooking Vinyl Australia and is just the soul balm we all desperately need in 2024. To celebrate their return, Ceres will dust off their instruments for a long-awaited headline tour – their first live shows in five years!
The first piece of new music from the Melbourne five-piece since the release of their album, We Are A Team (2019), “Want / Need” is a joyous celebration of love that will lift your spirits long after the final note rings. Starting simply with a delicately strumming guitar, “Want / Need” blossoms with the arrival of the Northern Voices Choir who also perform alongside Ceres in the stirring video.
“It’s a love song. I don’t need a single thing, if you don’t need a single thing. Feeling content. Singing songs. Filling lungs. Blocking out the haters. Us versus them. You and me. Wanting everything. Needing nothing.”
Frontman Tom Lanyon explains.
Ceres are one of those special bands that don’t come around too often. An oft-touted favourite of those in the know, Ceres sprung up organically via word-of-mouth until their breakthrough 2016 album, Drag It Down On You, let the rest of Australia in on Melbourne’s best-kept secret. By the time We Are A Team rolled around in 2019, Ceres hit their stride with the release of life-affirming single “Viv In The Front Seat”, which captured the hearts of everyone who heard it. Sold out shows, award nominations and critical acclaim followed, with Ceres wrapping up their most successful album cycle right as the pandemic arrived. With Covid came a lot of life changes within the camp – the intervening years saw members leave and return – and though Ceres was quietly humming along in one form or another, the band decided to return to the fore, all in it together.
“Want / Need” perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Ceres as they enter an exciting new chapter in 2024. The band will debut their new single live on their first Australian headline tour in half a decade, coming to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney in July. Ceres fans have been waiting a long time for this and tickets are expected to fly out the door.
CERES – Live On Tour
With Support From Suzi
Tickets On Sale Monday 27 May Via weareceres.com
Saturday 13 July
Northcote Social Club, Melbourne / Naarm
Thursday 25 July
The Brightside, Brisbane / Meanjin
Friday 26 July
Crowbar, Sydney / Warrang