Psycroptic have officially given a wider release to their long-hidden cover of Little River Band’s 1983 single “Falling,” making the track available digitally for the first time.
The Tasmanian technical death metal outfit originally recorded the cover as a secret bonus track exclusive to the Australian CD edition of their seventh studio album, ‘As The Kingdom Drowns’, released in 2018. Until now, the song had remained unavailable on streaming platforms.
Guitarist Joe Haley explained that the cover began as a special nod to Australian music history.
“Back in 2018 I thought it would be a nice treat to have a hidden bonus track for the ‘As the Kingdom Drowns’ album for the Australian only CD release. I figured doing a cover of a song by an Australian artist or band would be fitting.
When choosing a cover song, we’ve tried to seek out more left of field songs that we’re able to mould into our own. Songs that are well written and that work well with our ‘sound’ without needing much extra than us plugging in and playing.”
Haley revealed that longtime admiration for singer John Farnham and his tenure with Little River Band ultimately led the group toward the track.
“I found that a lot of the songs were quite difficult to make work in our style but the 1983 album ‘The Net’, and more specifically the song ‘Falling’, was quite dark in tone and actually translated quite well. We had a lot of fun recording it and we think it turned out great.”
Despite the band’s enthusiasm for the recording, its limited physical-only availability meant many fans never discovered it.
“But it turned out our version was a little too well hidden when it came to the release of it as it was only available on the physical Australian CD release. It was never released digitally.”
Interest in the track was unexpectedly revived years later after Little River Band co-writer Malcolm Wakeford reached out after discovering the cover.
“Fast forward to 2025 – we were randomly contacted by one of the co-writers of ‘Falling’… Malcolm was very complimentary of our version of the song, which to be honest was a huge relief haha.
This gave us renewed excitement for the song and upon a revisit to the track, and with Malcolm’s blessing, we thought that the song deserved a re-release to all the platforms… So this is one from our vaults, dusted off for all to enjoy.”
Wakeford himself praised Psycroptic’s reinterpretation, reflecting on the origins of the original composition.
“‘Falling’ happened initially with a riff Stephen Housden came up with… The lyrics took on a secret agent / James Bond flavour — a bit like seeing a movie or novel unfold. Psycroptic have taken it into a whole new cosmictic sphere. The intent is still there but they’ve infused it with their signature angst and incredible musicianship.”
The newly released version now gives fans worldwide access to a deep-cut moment from the band’s catalog that had previously remained exclusive to collectors.
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