The Story So Far...
Central Rain is the antidote to autotune: no-frills, melody-drenched indie rock that Blurs The Church, REM and The Go-Betweens. The first solo project for Melbourne musician Luke Thomas, it has so far yielded a six-track EP (2015's Flying Information), the debut album Kick The Moon (2017), and a left-of-field single "We All Know What We Want" (2019). New double-A single “Some Say/Little Dancers” sees Thomas revisiting the upbeat jangle that’s a characteristic of the best of his earlier work.
Thomas cut his musical teeth while still in his teens playing bass in Brisbane band Lavish, then relocated to Melbourne and joined You Am I guitarist Davey Lane’s band The Pictures. As guitarist, lead vocalist and producer of his own band, Deserters, Thomas stepped out of Lane’s shadow to showcase his own evocative, well-crafted songs, and their four releases earned high praise from reviewers nationwide.
While the Covid-19 situation has put paid to any Central Rain shows for the time being, Thomas’s creative output has continued unabated. “These new Central Rain tracks were very spontaneously written and recorded during our on/off rollercoaster lockdown period here in Melbourne town. Along with a little help from the exceptional Zac Anthony on the drum set, it was a heap of fun bringing these songs to life and we are extremely chuffed to get ‘em out there into our world of worlds!”
“Some Say” is released digitally to all your favourite platforms on September 1.
“Thomas writes seemingly effortless pop/rock tunes, all low-key retro guitar gems and sweetly coated with gorgeous harmonies… The overall effect is one of warmth, clarity and impressive simplicity; just pure playing, confident songwriting and a no-frills approach which is totally disarming… One can only hope such talent doesn’t fly under the radar…”
- EJ Cartledge, Inpress Magazine
Flying Information
"Depending on where you came in, this is the latest band guise for Luke Thomas — he formerly of Lavish/The Pictures/The Deserters. If aware of any of the above, you'll realise he knows his pop history which comes through in the drenched melancholy of Cold Turkey On Christmas Day, or Give It All Up Tonight's best thing Blur never wrote. Thomas works mostly as one-man band... [and] the six tracks of this are a handy sampler of his sometimes sentimental take on the craft of pop-song writing."
- Ross Clelland, themusic.com.au