Cordrazine Announce Their First New Song In Nearly 15 Years

Fans of Australian 90s indie rock bands: rejoice, as Cordrazine are preparing to release their first new song in nearly 15 years.

Hey Man is set to drop on Friday, 19 April, with “more to come”, according to a press release. In addition to the song’s release, Cordrazine will play a single launch show at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Saturday, 27 April, as the band gears up for a busy few years. You can find tickets to the show here.

The new single is hailed as an “epic production.” It features a 28-piece orchestra and marks the first in a series of new Cordrazine songs to come this year and next. A new album is tentatively earmarked for release in 2025.

Hey Man will be released via Rubber Records on Friday, 19 April. You can pre-order/pre-save the song here.

“It feels like that time again”, Cordrazine singer and guitarist Hamish Cowan commented in a statement. “Once every ten years or so seems about the right pace to record and release music. Though the truth is, music is never out of my life; it just takes me a while to get around to sharing it.”

While he feels Hey Man is the next step in the band’s natural evolution, Cowan stated, “As long as we don’t sound like we are bereft of ideas, I will be happy. I don’t care if people hate it; I just don’t want people to be bored and unaffected—hatred is better than indifference.”

Cowan admitted that during the band’s initial periods of success, he was overwhelmed by the media and fans' interest. “I was being asked questions about aspects of my being in interviews I’d not considered myself,” he shared. “Interviews were more like psychoanalysis than a conversation about the music I’d written.”

In October 2022, Cordrazine celebrated their 25th anniversary by releasing the first-ever vinyl for their impactful debut album, From Here To Whenever, and their debut EP, Time To Leave, and an anniversary concert in Melbourne.

Cowan, bassist Chris Ambrose, drummer Rohan Heddle, and keyboard player Sam Holloway formed Cordrazine in 1996 and quickly became a part of Melbourne’s music scene. 

Once they had the lineup, Cordrazine signed with Rubber Records and released Time To Leave in May 1997, which peaked at #42 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The song Crazy did well on triple j, landing at #17 on the 1997 Hottest 100. Crazy would also appear on their album, From Here To Whenever, in 1998.

From Here To Whenever was released in April 1998, with the singles, Clearlight was sent to radio in August 1997, and Memorial Drive was released in February 1998. The album was a success for the band, getting into the ARIA Top 10 Albums Chart at #9. The band was nominated for the ARIA Award of Best Breakthrough Artist at the 1998 ARIA Awards. 

Cordrazine, at the height of their success, announced their disbandment in November 1998 but had broken up before the album was released. 

The band surprised fans by reforming in 2009. Ambrose did not return, but new members Jethro Woodward, who played bass and backing vocals, and Nick Batterham, who played guitar and backing vocals, joined. Cordrazine released their second album, Always Coming Down, in July 2010.