The Mentalist Collective Release 'Running Through Long Grass' and Announce Debut Album

With their debut album, ‘Signal Hill’ (out 13th October 2023), Dunedin mainstays The Mentalist Collective are expanding the lush sonic palette they showcased in their 2018 EP, ‘Mandala’. Out today, their first single ‘Running Through Long Grass’ showcases what is to come.

Signal Hill is a wide-ranging, indie- folk-flavoured exploration of the quintuplet's songwriting abilities. Featuring the group's highly-acclaimed vocal harmonies, lyrical explorations both fictional and personal, and members that regularly swap instruments, Signal Hill is an album that reveals itself the more you listen.

The first single, Running Through Long Grass, is a breakneck folk shuffle featuring Christie on lead vocals and a chorus that will live in your head. Life-affirming choruses, dark explorations of the soul, and the occasional wolf are to be found within the album. The Mentalist Collective's songs highlight the growth and change that has come for the members as they have matured; five friends who are thrilled to play each other's songs.

The single Running Through Long Grass is set to be released on all major streaming services & Bandcamp today. The song is a breakneck folk shuffle featuring Brendan Christie on lead vocals, with a chorus that will live in your head and is inspired by the grassy plains of Central Otago, New Zealand. 

Christie reflects: “As a kid I grew up with regular visits to Lake Hawea, long before much of the development had gone up beyond the waterfront. We’d camp in an old caravan and hut on a small section about ten-minute-walk from the lakeside. Behind us were acres and acres of empty plains and farmland, covered in golden grass which had grown up to my knees, sometimes even higher. This song tries to embody how it felt to run through these fields, often alone, and how exciting and freeing it felt when I was young.”

Running Through Long Grass has long held a cherished place in the band’s setlist as a dance-floor-filler and an epic anthem that commands attention and often has audience members singing along.

Check out all things The Mentalist Collective below:

Website | Facebook | Instagram