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October 2, 2026 -- Today, Australian instrumental group Surprise Chef share “Tadpoles,” the latest preview of their forthcoming album Frogs In A Pond, out October 23 on Concord Jazz.
“Tadpoles” draws deeply from the cinematic influences that run throughout Frogs In A Pond. Delicate clavinet darts through the track against an ARP synthesizer, musically tracing the album’s central amphibian metaphor: the guileless tadpole becoming the world-weary frog, and the carefree perspective of youth giving way to the dogma of adulthood.
Additional pieces of music that preview the album include “Inside Voice” and “Outside Voice,” the two-part opening to Frogs In A Pond, and the funk-studded “Leg Day.” The songs offer a window into the cinematic,intricately crafted 40-minute suite inspired in part by Italian giallo cinema and European film composers of the 1960s and ’70s. Surprise Chef approached the record as a continuous body of work rather than a collection of standalone songs, imagining it as the soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist.
Listen to “Tadpoles” here: https://i.surprise-chef.com/frogsinapond
Frogs In A Pond was recorded over a continuous nine day session at Surprise Chef’s College of Knowledge studio in Melbourne, where three members of the group also reside. It was recorded almost entirely live with minimal overdubs, with Leon Michels joining the group on flute across several tracks. The instrumentation includes drums, electric bass, electric guitar, nylon acoustic guitar, piano, clavinet, Arp Odyssey, vibraphone and tuned wood blocks, inspired by European composers’ approach to film in the ‘60s and ‘70s that opted for small ensembles over orchestras. Great care was taken in the sequencing of the album; establishing a flow was as crucial as each individual song. Listeners will notice rhythmic and melodic motifs interpolated with different instruments throughout.
Frogs In A Pond follows 2025’s Superb, featured on Rolling Stone Australia’s Best Albums of 2025 list. Surprise Chef have been celebrated across the globe for a sound that has been informed equally by their isolation in Australia as their deep love for soul, hip-hop, funk, David Axelrod and other contemporary instrumental artists including Menahan Street Band. Highlights include support from KCRW, KEXP and Gilles Peterson, praise from Questlove, and festival appearances at Reeperbahn, Desert Daze, Pickathon and London Calling. They’ve been sampled for a collaboration between 88 Rising’s Rich Brian and Ghostface Killah, and provided the soundtrack to a Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime commercial.
Surprise Chef is guitarist Lachlan Stuckey, keyboardist Jethro Curtin, bassist Carl Lindeberg and drummer Andrew Congues, with producer/composer/percussionist/multi-instrumentalist Hudson Whitlock also on the recording. The album was produced by their longtime producer and engineer, Henry Jenkins.
Just after the album is released, Surprise Chef will visit North America for a rare North American tour that begins October 30, includes Los Angeles on Halloween, and two full sets at National Sawdust in Brooklyn on November 13. See below for the full itinerary and find more ticket information here: https://www.surprise-chef.com/tour.
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