Sheppard are back! Their brand-new single, Good Time marks the start of a whole new era for one of Australia’s most successful musical exports with millions of record sales and over a billion streams worldwide.
The first single from the band’s upcoming fourth studio album, Good Time is fuelled by an undeniable singalong chorus that will soon be lodged in the heads of millions across the world, as well as a whistle hook that instantly brings out the sunshine and makes you want to dive head first into a margarita somewhere on the coastline.
“It’s the idea that true happiness lies within the people you love.” George Sheppard explains. ”It’s not where you are or what you’re doing, it’s who you’re with. I’m one of those people always wanting to go on an adventure. I’ve always chased the wonders of life. Tried to find all the fun things to do. But the older I get, the more places I’ve been, the more I’ve begun to realise that the best view I’ve ever had anywhere on Earth, is right back at home. The saying ‘home is where the heart is’ holds true because being with loved ones is what makes a place feel like home. This song celebrates the joy of being surrounded by loved ones, whether they’re family, friends, pets, or even just within ourselves. In the midst of all that’s been happening in the world, we wanted to write a pop song that lifts spirits and encourages enjoying good times with those who matter most.”
The accompanying music video, as well as the single artwork, were brought to life by ARIA-nominated artist Giulia Giannini McGauran (Tones and I, Lime Cordiale) and director Josh Harris from Welcome the Machines (Illy, Gang of Youths) and was recently filmed in South-East Melbourne.
Says Amy Sheppard “Turning a remote Melbourne beach into a European summer’s day was quite the challenge but on our filming days, the clouds parted, the sun came out and the whole production team did an incredible job!”
Written and recorded in Sweden by George Sheppard with hit-makers Lisa Desmond and fellow Eurovision alum, Robin Stjernberg, Good Time is the first taste of new music since their third album, Kaleidoscope Eyes, and their seasonal anthem, Christmas Without You, both released in 2021.
Sheppard have now clocked up 1.2 billion combined streams of all their songs, including 2014’s global hit Geronimo plus classics like Coming Home, Let Me Down Easy, Learning to Fly, Eurovision entry On My Way, and Die Young. Those streaming figures demonstrate Sheppard truly are an international band, with their biggest audiences in the USA, as well as dedicated fan bases in Japan, Mexico, China, South Africa and most of Europe.
They now have over four million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, while their videos are about to crack 250 million combined views on YouTube. “We’ve been very fortunate,” George says. “And it’s hard to put those figures into quantifiable numbers, but we feel it through our fans. Both online and at our live shows, it’s so cool to see such a diverse and multi-generational crowd. Honestly, we just feel so grateful. So many incredible things have had to go just right, and wrong, for us to have been lucky enough to call this our job, but it does also show the hard work we put into this early on has paid off.”
