Scratches In The Glass

About this Song

Scratches in the Glass is the sixth single from Meanjin/Brisbane alt-rock band Whose Party, leaning further into the project’s darker and more angular sound. Built around a catchy, recurring bassline and eerie modal guitar melody, the track blends alt-rock with a gothic/post-punk edge, a hint of surf-rock twang and airy vocals that become more urgent as the arrangement builds. The song began around a year ago when Ivy bought her first loop pedal and started layering the bassline that now drives the track. Although it quickly became popular with listeners and live audiences, Ivy initially doubted whether it was strong enough to release. “I thought it might be too strange and not catchy enough to work as a single,” Ivy says. “We stopped playing it for quite a while, then suddenly remembered it existed before going into the studio to record, which was lucky, because we’ve ended up loving the song. People were very happy when we brought it back to our live shows.” The lyrics grew out of long train rides and long waits at stations, often late at night or in the early hours of the morning. Caught between city and hometown, Ivy would write fragments into her phone under the harsh fluorescent lights, feeling as though she was trying to live between two distant places without fully belonging to either. “It’s about being trapped somewhere you don’t want to be, but also trapped in time and in your own mind,” Ivy says. “There’s too much silence, too much waiting and too much room for every uneasy feeling to become louder.” Lines such as “the cycle has no ending,” “I’m left in the past” and “waiting beyond the end” reflect that sense of repetition, urgency and emotional claustrophobia. The title evokes both the physical marks on public transport windows and the feeling of looking outward through something damaged or obscured. Unlike the band’s previous releases, which were largely recorded in Ivy’s bedroom setup, most of Scratches in the Glass was tracked in a studio at the university workplace of friend Kiran Hameed. The song was mixed and mastered by Marcello Lioy, a friend and collaborator of Ivy’s father.