Jangly and upbeat, Australian indie pop band Even as We Speak went against more aggressive and pessimistically punk trends when they formed in 1986. Throughout a brief early phase, the group released their music with the iconically twee Sarah Records and were a favorite of John Peel's, but they broke up in 1993 after issuing a handful of singles and a sole album. After decades spent pursuing other musical ventures, the band reunited for a festival performance in 2016, which eventually led to more shows and 2020's Adelphi, their first full-length studio album in over 25 years. Even as We Speak was founded by Sydney musicians Mary Wyer and Matthew Love. Both sang, played guitar, and wrote songs and they filled out the band with the inclusion of bassist Paul Field, drummer Neil Johnson, and guitarist Scott Leishman. In 1986, this lineup of the group quickly issued their debut 7" single, Small Fish in a Big Machine, but a slightly revised personnel recorded a second single the next year with the spirited original "Blue Suburban Skies" and a cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle." The band's sound fit nicely into the C-86 movement that was gaining steam at the time, combining bright, melodic songwriting and more abrasive experimental impulses. Several more singles materialized, with 1989's Goes So Slow catching the attention of BBC Radio 1 DJ and tastemaker John Peel, who became a vocal supporter of the band. The exposure Even as We Speak gained from Peel playing their music led to a relationship with Sarah Records. The group became extremely active in the early '90s, recording several Peel Sessions and releasing their debut album, Feral Pop Frenzy, in 1993, with Wyer, Rob Irwin, and Love now joined by drummer Anita Rayner, guitarist Paul Clarke, and keyboardist/producer Julian Knowles. That same year, the band imploded, breaking up acrimoniously. Most members continued down musical paths, and in 2005 Even as We Speak's early output was collected on the singles comp A Three Minute Song Is One Minute Too Long. In 2014, a second archival release surfaced, Yellow Food: The Peel Sessions, compiling material from the band's multiple early-'90s recordings with Radio 1. Even as We Speak reunited in 2016 without Clarke to play the NYC Pop Fest, which led to other shows and even the release of a new EP, The Black Forest, the next year on the Emotional Response label. Emotional Response also issued a 25-year anniversary edition of Feral Pop Frenzy in 2018 as the group worked towards a new full-length album. That record, Adelphi, was released in July of 2020 by Shelflife Records. ~ Fred Thomas