CLONING RELEASE ETHEREAL NEW SINGLE ‘JUST AS YOU ARE’
Selling out shows around Australia and racking up millions of streams, Perth indies, Cloning have emerged as one of Australia’s most singular alt-rock acts. Swirling with heartfelt, soft-spoken charisma and eerie hues, their ethereal new single, Just As You Are, expands on the quartet’s established alternative charms and is out today.
With billowing soundscapes, lush driving beats balanced with poised serenity, and calming introspection courtesy of lead vocalist Felix Parker, Just As You Are flutters with nods to the likes of Radiohead, Everything Everything, Midnight Oil, Slowdive and The War on Drugs, expertly mastered by Brian Lucey (Cage The Elephant, Royal Blood, Arctic Monkeys) while also pushing the Cloning collective into spectacular new heights. “Just As You Are is about acceptance and feeling comfortable in your own skin,” shares frontman Felix of the new single’s enchanting lyricism. The band are self-recorded, mixed and produced by bass guitarist Nic Rollo, who explains, “being able to work closely together to push through quick iterations of a song and explore sonic boundaries on a level that would be hard with an external producer has been a game changer for us, recording and mixing feels like more of an extension of the songwriting process.”
Bringing together lead vocalist and guitarist Felix Parker, guitarist Bevan Green, bass player Nic Rollo and drummer Jack Brett, Cloning began life when Bevan relocated to Perth from Kalgoorlie and met high school best mates Felix, Nic and Jack in 2019. With their immersive soundscapes, melodic songwriting and relatable lyricism, Cloning were dubbed by Tone Deaf in 2020 as “the future of indie and alt-rock in Australia”; a fact that is reflected in the band’s sold out shows across the country, millions of streams, and inclusion in coveted editorial playlists, including Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’ and Apple Music’s ‘New Music Daily’.
Developing a dedicated grassroots fanbase over the years, Cloning have toured Australia nationally three times, with three EPs also in their wake in the form of 2019’s Pillars of Salt, 2021’s Wounded Healers and, most recently, 2024’s Fall Out. A perceptive and uncompromising hands-on collective, Cloning also boast a 10K-strong subscriber email fanbase and a 500 member fan Discord server, with recent sold out shows at Melbourne’s The Workers Club and Adelaide’s Grace Emily Hotel in 2024 thousands of kilometres from home also under their belts. And it’s these very shows far from home that have catapulted Cloning into burgeoning indie rock favourites across the country, including drawing praise from the likes of TheMusic.com.au, declaring of a 2023 live Cloning performance in Brisbane that “it felt less like a production and more like a group of friends experiencing life together – and every person in Black Bear Lodge was invited to join”.
With community building and fan appreciation a huge focus and drawcard for the band, they explain, “After every show you’ll find us at the back of the room taking photos with fans and signing merch for them. It’s our favourite part of the night getting to meet our listeners, it can be especially amazing on the East Coast, since it’s so far from home and we’re playing to rooms full of strangers.”
There is no doubt 2025 sees the band making waves and turning heads in the industry. Alongside the release of their latest single, Cloning have been selected to showcase at BIGSOUND 2025 in September, and Felix recently secured a coveted spot at John Butler’s highly competitive Seed Fund workshop that took place in the Blue Mountains last month, alongside some of the country’s most exciting emerging artists and managers. Armed with Just As You Are, this brand new chapter for Cloning is as thrilling for the band as it is for their ever-growing legion of fans.
Just As You Are is out now.