The Living End are full of surprises this year.

Last month, the Aussie rockers released the single Alfie and played two intimate shows in Melbourne and Sydney. That single release was preceded by the band’s raucous pop-up gig at the Fitzroy pub, The Punter’s Club, and vocalist and guitarist Chris Cheney’s shock collaboration with Baby Animals.

Today, they’ve kept up their streak of surprise singles, unveiling the energetic new number, Strange Place. Echoing conversations you’ve likely had with your friends and family, The Living End soundtrack the ongoing cost-of-living crisis (“You can’t pay the rent… they’ve hiked up your interest rates”) with an engaging, upbeat melody.

According to a press release, Strange Place will feature on The Living End’s upcoming ninth album, of which more details will be revealed soon.

Touching on the themes of Strange Place, Cheney quipped, “News flash! It’s getting crazy out there! I look around and I see a lot of people that just can’t make sense of where this world is heading.”

He added, “It’s become a ‘Strange Place’; a giant asylum full of fragile, disconnected and disillusioned people that aren’t coping.

“Mental health, the cost of living, social media, the threat of war, increasing youth-related crime, online toxicity, a whole generation trying to learn in real time how to function and cope with a world spinning too fast and run by lunatics.”

You can check out the single below.

In addition to releasing Strange Place, The Living End will launch the new single at an immersive event at The Tote in Melbourne.

The event will take place tomorrow (28 June) from 3 pm until 6 pm, with band members Chris Cheney, Scott Owen, and Andy Strachan signing hand-screened, limited-edition posters for fans.

Cheney said of the fan event at The Tote, “The ever-changing landscape of how we consume music has created a perfect opportunity to do something different, so when the chance to collaborate with The Living End for a listening party of sorts, I decided why not really build a little world all our own to experience Strange Place in a truly strange setting?

“What better place to nestle this experience than within the walls of the iconic Tote hotel, the site of many early TLE gigs and many late-night, beer-soaked conversations solving the world’s problems.”