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SWIM
releases new album
‘DEAR FRIEND’
out now

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Photo – Diego Campomar

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“The album is led by beatific moment ‘Run Away’, a single of real power and prowess.” – Clash.

“SWIM’s success is one of the best grassroots stories in current Australian music.” – Rolling Stone Au

“SWIM’s album feels like a complete journey – emotional, bold and built for the kind of collective energy we live for”Nick Greco – Co-Founder Beyond The Valley

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Melbourne-born, London-based producer SWIM releases his highly anticipated second album Dear Friend today, Friday 21 November 2025. It is a cinematic and emotionally charged body of work shaped in the solitude of a London winter. Entirely self-produced and self-released, Dear Friend marks the next chapter in what has become one of Australia’s most compelling independent rises.

Written during a creative dry spell in London, Dear Friend became a deeply personal reset, an instinct-driven reflection on distance, self-reliance and renewal. “I had a clear idea of what I wanted to make,” he says, “and I’m trying not to do it for anyone else other than myself.” The album merges subsonic bass, sweeping strings, garage rhythms and atmospheric vocals into an immersive, cinematic arc. SWIM shaped the record with obsessive precision. “I went so granular that I’d re-pitch or rework songs just so the transitions would work perfectly. It might sound crazy, but it makes it feel intentional, because it was made that way.”

A major creative leap came through the album’s orchestral elements. SWIM personally composed and arranged every string part, later recording them with the Budapest Film Orchestra. “There’s nothing more cinematic or epic than strings,” he says. “It’s something I’ve always loved in other people’s music, and the scope of this record finally made it feel like the right time to do it.”

“I’ve been doing this non-stop for five years. It’s been slowly building, shows doubling in size every time I play.” What began at DIY parties for a hundred people has grown into sold-out shows at Melbourne’s Forum, Sydney’s Roundhouse and London’s iconic KOKO, alongside a Boiler Room performance and European festival slots at Fly Open Air and Pukkelpop.

Dear Friend explores the tension of discovering somewhere new while longing for what is familiar. “There’s this duality of discovering a new place and longing for the old one, or even missing a particular person,” he says. From the haunted stillness of Missing You to the euphoric release of the title track and the blissful rise of Everything You Need, the album moves fluidly between intimacy and exhilaration. It is a suite that never loses its soul, whether in the subsonic bass and garage snares of Be There For You or the sweeping orchestral climax of Memories.

SWIM’s relentless curiosity continues to propel him forward. “I just have to try everything,” he laughs. “If I stop learning or doing things outside my comfort zone, it stops being exciting.” In building this record entirely for himself, he has created something expansive, emotional and unmistakably his own.

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TRACKLISTING

1. You & Me
2. Run Away
3. Are You The One
4. Get That Close
5. Need You Home
6. Missing You
7. Everything You Need
8. When It Comes To Us
9. Dear Friend
10. Be There For You
11. My Love
12. Memories (Feat. Ova Looven)

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PLAYING AUS FESTIVALS

December 28, 2025 – January 1, 2026 -Lost Paradise – NSW
December 28, 2025 – January 1, 2026 – Beyond The Valley – VIC

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Follow SWIM
YouTube – Instagram – AppleMusic – Spotify

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AMNPLIFY – DB