Ball Park Music (album)

Ball Park Music is the sixth studio album by Australian indie rock band Ball Park Music. It was written and recorded in Brisbane throughout the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, and released on 23 October 2020. The album was preceded by three singles – "Spark Up!", "Day & Age" and notably "Cherub", which polled at number four in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2020.

The record achieved commercial success, debuting at number 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was nominated for Australian Album of the Year at the 2020 J Awards and Album of the Year at the 2021 Queensland Music Awards, winning the latter. It was further nominated for Best Independent Release and Best Rock Album at the 2021 ARIA Awards.

Background
A week prior to the announcement of the album, the band's 2011 single "It's Nice to Be Alive" placed at number 17 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of the 2010s. The band's guitarist Dean Hanson discussed the result whilst premiering lead single "Spark Up!" on the station's breakfast program, Breakfast with Sally and Erica, stating: "'[It's] so good. We could not be happier to see the company that our little song is in, with some big hitters of the decade. I think we all know we're in a simulation at the moment but that solidifies it for us.'"

Recording
The band began recording the album in October 2019 at the beginning of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. The album was primarily recorded in Stafford, Brisbane.

Recording locations
Main recording locations
 * Prawn HQ (Ball Park Music's home studio), Brisbane, Queensland – vocals, mixing
 * Free Energy Device, Sydney, New South Wales – mixing
 * King Willy Sound, Launceston, Tasmania – mastering

Additional recording locations
 * Jennifer Boyce's bedroom, Sydney, New South Wales – additional vocals

Release
Lead single "Spark Up!" was released on 19 March 2020, alongside the announcement their forthcoming record would be titled Mostly Sunny. This name would later be changed eponymously on 23 April, after the band decided the initial title did not match the overall theme of the album. The album artwork designed by Polly Bass Boost and band member Dean Hanson was issued alongside the announcement. In an interview with Triple J, keyboardist Paul Furness elaborated on the decision to change the title:"Mostly Sunny didn't feel right for a number of reasons. We always did like the title – it had a similar rhythm to it as Good Mood and felt like a continuation. As we've finished this album we've realised, it's really not a continuation of Good Mood. It is its own thing with a different emotional palette."On 5 June 2020, second single "Day & Age" was released. On 16 August, the band performed "Day & Age" live from the Black Bear Lodge bar in Brisbane for Australian live music program The Sound. On 3 August, the band began selling face masks branded with the album's cover artwork following a Tweet parodying the chorus of "Spark Up!", with the lyrics "Life is short / The doors are shut / I say we mask up".

The record's final single "Cherub" was issued on 28 August. The band performed the track live from Prawn Records HQ on 11 September for NME Australia. All three singles had been premiered by Triple J prior to their digital releases.

Ball Park Music was released on 23 October 2020 through Prawn Records and Inertia Music in digital and physical formats. The same day, the band performed live on Triple J's Like a Version segment, performing a cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" alongside their original track "Cherub".

Commercial performance
On 28 October 2020, Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) announced in their mid-week report that the album was in contention to debut within the top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart. On 31 October 2020, Ball Park Music debuted and peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart for the chart dated 2 November 2020, tying with Puddinghead (2014) as their highest peak in the region.

AIR Awards
! Ref. ! scope="row"| 2021
 * Ball Park Music
 * Independent Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * }
 * }

J Awards
! Ref. ! scope="row"| 2020
 * Ball Park Music
 * Australian Album of the Year
 * }
 * }
 * }

Queensland Music Awards
! Ref. ! scope="row"| 2021
 * Ball Park Music
 * Album of the Year
 * Won
 * }
 * }

Personnel
Adapted from the album's liner notes.

Musicians
Ball Park Music Other musicians
 * Sam Cromack – writing, vocals, guitar, synthesiser, shaker (1–11)
 * Jennifer Boyce – vocals, bass guitar, kazoo (1–11)
 * Daniel Hanson – writing (6), drums, tambourine, wheelbarrow, bongos, vocals (1–11)
 * Dean Hanson – writing (3, 6), guitar, vocals, bass guitar (1–11)
 * Paul Furness – writing (6), piano, rhodes, trombone, synthesiser, mellotron, tambourine, vocals (1–11)
 * Tom Myers – additional vocals (9, 11)
 * Florence the Dog – "panting" (4)

Technical

 * Paul McKercher – mixing (1–5, 7–11)
 * Sam Cromack – mixing (6)
 * William Bowden – mastering (1–11)

Artwork

 * Polly Bass Boost – artwork, design
 * Dean Hanson – artwork, design, photography