Foreshadowed by the single ‘Into the Darkening Blue’ and title track ‘So Pretend’, Buckley Ward’s forthcoming album is the band’s most dynamic work to date.

Coming three years after their debut full length album Something in the Night and post line-up changes, So Pretend is the sound of a band flexing their collective muscles and fully growing into themselves. Assiduously crafted and cannily restrained, So Pretend is a quietly assured effort from the five piece.

So Pretend is an album with pop at its heart, and something less definable in its veins. On the surface, the shimmering melodies and pitch perfect harmonies dominate, but listen closer and the album’s darker undercurrents snap sharply into focus. Navigating themes of escapism and disillusionment, So Pretend quells the panic with tender pop and just a dash of electro. With lyrics and instrumentation often at odds with each other, So Pretend is a series of beguiling contradictions that nonetheless seem to belong together.

Since the release of the album’s title track and first single in late 2011, momentum has been steadily building behind the band and has seen them hand selected to open for such names as Jungle Giants, San Cisco and Big Scary, the latter taking them on a national tour.