Matthew Murphy calls from the front seat of his car, smiling with the charm of a Wes Anderson character. He's here to talk about his new album, Oh! The Ocean, set for release next February. Murphy answered each question with the precision of a literary assassin, openly discussing everything from mental unrest and switching producers to Kate Moss and his first encounter with wombats.

JAKE FITZPATRICK I had a thought today: why are you called the Wombats? Did you come to Australia and fall in love with them?

MATTHEW MURPHY We’d actually never been to Australia before. Dan [Haggis] was making posters for our first show. I said to him, ‘Call us whatever the fuck you like. There will be time to change.’ We had been calling each other wombats in a derogatory way. Like, ‘Shut up, you wombat’. Then suddenly we were called the Wombats. I was like, ‘That name is horrendous. We’re going to have to change that immediately’. But immediately never came.

JF Have you since seen a Wombat?

MM We have. We were at that cool zoo in Adelaide. It’s a beautiful zoo. The wombat was really cute, sweet and personable. We’ve met some rank wombats. Some dirty, gritty little bastards.

JF Maybe it’s a metaphor.

MM Wombats age disgracefully.

JF Same as Liverpudlians, I guess? [Laughs] So, your new album is called Oh! the Ocean. It will be released on 21 February 2025. Where did the title come from?

MM I was stressed one morning and decided to take my kids and my wife on a holiday. When we arrived, I stood on the beach and had a mental breakdown. The ocean kind of slapped me in the face. It was like I had never seen one before. It was a very out-of-body experience. I was in complete awe of what was in front of me. I haven’t done mushrooms for a long time, but a sizeable dose of mushrooms might cause a similar experience. It was an odd but powerful moment.

JF Did you start recording after you chose the title?

MM The album was written before I had this experience, but we hadn’t started recording it yet. We recorded it with John Congleton. He mixed and produced it out here in LA over six weeks. We worked with Mark Crew on the three last Wombats albums and two of my own albums. It wasn’t an easy decision to change, but it just felt right to shake things up.

JF Did it feel different from previous album recordings?

MM Yes, in a lot of ways. The lines of communication were open between the three of us. We dealt with any issues or conflict in the moment. It’s the healthiest album we’ve ever made. That’s how John works. He doesn’t have favourites, and he likes to get down to business.

JF You just released a song called ‘Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come’. I read that the song is about social anxiety. Can you expand on that for me? How long have you had it for?

MM I’ve had that riproaring through my system for as long as I can remember. It’s only obvious to me now that I don’t drink and party. You can temper it with all that. 

JF How does it physically manifest itself?

MM Stomach in the throat. Maybe a sweaty palm. I’m constantly concerned with what to say and how to act, what other people are thinking, and whether I’m going to say something stupid. Am I about to offend someone? My mind goes at a million miles an hour.

JF It’s true. We live in a culture of analysis. Whether that be rightly or wrongly, we seem to be more sensitive than ever. It’s tough. I was also particularly struck by the track ‘Kate Moss’. Why did you give it that title?

MM The song should really be called ‘Mayhem’. But ‘Kate Moss’ sounded cooler. It’s about my neighbourhood in LA and all the shit that was going down there. Lots of silly people on top of one hill. The lyric is ‘You look like Kate Moss from 1993’. Which could have been one of Kate’s glory years, I don’t know.

JF Kate Moss brings a touch of marvellous mayhem everywhere she goes so I think it’s an apt title. You’re coming to Australia for Rolling Sets soon. It’s your only Aussie show coming up. How are you feeling for that?

MM Australians seem to really love us and always have. I’m elated every time I get the chance to go down there. I am looking forward to doing this festival. You guys don’t have many festivals anymore, not like before, and that’s freaking me out. So, it’s nice to be playing one.

The Wombats new album, Oh! the Ocean, can be pre-ordered here. The Wombats will play Rolling Sets Festival on December 7. Tickets can be purchased here.