It's "Do Or Die" For Australia's Windwaker Third Album "Smile, You're On Camera" Arrives October 23 via Fearless Records

It's "Do Or Die" For Australia's WINDWAKER Third Album "Smile, You're On Camera" Arrives October 23 via Fearless Records

Australia's genre-bending WINDWAKER — vocalist Liam Guinane, guitarist Justin Keurntjes, bassist Indey Salvestro, drummer Chris Lalic, and synths/samples specialist Connor Robins — recently announced their third album, smile, you're on camera. It arrives on October 23 through Fearless Records. Pre-order it here.

Today, the band has share the video for "do or die." Watch it here.

You know those songs that you just can't get out of your head? No matter what you do you, you can't purge it or turn it off? Rather, it insists on taking up real estate in your brain because it's so damn catchy and, well, good? Windwaker's "do or die" is one of those earworms — it takes hold and doesn't let go. With grinding, powerhouse guitar grooves, bouncy, hip-hop-inspired vocals, a sprinkling of smooth and sexy falsetto, and teeth-baring screams, "do or die" courses like an electric current from your scalp down to your toes. Lyrically, the song looks at class vs. culture wars, with the band noting that the track "points out the division we're currently facing and urges the people to embrace the tribe mentality but to unify over the common enemy of leaders who don’t serve our best interests."

"Everywhere we look there is conflict, we are surrounded by it and have never been so divided as a humanity," the band says. "Wars between countries, toxic online discourse over ideology, countries divided over political policy from within, what we think is right and wrong has become a tribe identity and we are at war with one another. Leaders will call it a 'culture war' when in reality it's a way of keeping us distracted from class war that has been happening for decades. 'do or die' points out the division we're currently facing and urges the people to embrace the tribe mentality but to unify over the common enemy of leaders who don’t serve our best interests."

As a whole, "smile, you're on camera." ruminates on the weight of time and growth, struggles and sacrifice for the better life and authenticity in spite of a world full of superficial and sinister characters and bad actors. It's a collection of catchy, energetic and heartfelt songs. The album offers a more guitar-forward and gritty, analog-focused backdrop compared to its predecessor, HYPERVIOLENCE, while encapsulating the eclectic signature sound of Windwaker up to this point. The album is highly introspective and does not follow a linear narrative, instead presenting a series of personal reflections and snapshots that capture the emotional highs and lows of this period. It's a celebration of how far the band has come and a candid look at the pressure of being seen, leaving listeners with a sense of both resolution and ongoing evolution.

Ultimately, Windwaker's music effectively results from a chemical reaction between rock, alternative, metal, pop, punk, electronic, and hip-hop. The band serves as the common denominator on an endlessly rotating carousel of styles, splicing stadium-size hooks, swaggering rhythms, gnashing guitars, and jaw-droppingly dynamic vocals into one unpredictable sound. The band has constantly pushed the envelope, taking flight into rarified air as an outlier. They already made a hyperspace-size jump musically from "Love Language" [2022] to "HYPERVIOLENCE" [2024]. The latter spawned "SIRENS," which gathered 9 million Spotify streams and counting. In response to the highlight "Fractured State of Mind," OnesToWatch raved, “Simultaneously brutal and beautiful, the ferocious new track explores the aftershocks of lost love and is sure to be an instant hit for those in need of a therapeutic rage session." In a 10/10 review, Distorted Sound predicted, "HYPERVIOLENCE has the energy of a band about to make it big.” Plus, Melodic Magazine hailed "their genre-warping take on modern metalcore." Along the way, they notably shared stages with everyone from Motionless In White and I Prevail to Beartooth and Caskets, among others.

Windwaker are touring with Bury Tomorrow next year. All dates are below.

2027 EU/UK tour supporting Bury Tomorrow

• February 3 : Élysée Montmartre — Paris, France
• February 4 : Hamburg Sporthalle — Hamburg, Germany
• February 5 : TivoliVredenburg — Utrecht, Netherlands
• February 6 : Haus Auensee — Leipzig, Germany
• February 7 : Columbiahalle — Berlin, Germany
• February 10 : Gasometer — Vienna, Austria
• February 11: Zenith, die Kulturhalle — Munich, Germany
• February 12: Schlachthof Wiesbaden — Wiesbaden, Germany
• February 13 : Palladium — Cologne, Germany
• February 14 : Ancienne Belgique (AB) — Brussels, Belgium
• February 18 : Galvanizers Yard, SWG3 — Glasgow, UK
• February 19 : Nottingham Rock City — Nottingham, UK

PRE ORDER "SMILE, YOU'RE ON CAMERA." HERE

"smile, you're on camera." tracklisting:

1. low
2. closer
3. click. (With RinRin)
4. do or die
5. dna
6. burn
7. victory lap
8. lie to me
9. wait for me
10. (With Mikaila Delgado)loser
11. overlord
12. some days