After recording a 7-track demo in 1995, the band signed to Murmur Records, a subsidiary of Sony. In 1996, they released the 7-track EP The Answer to Both Your Questions, recorded and mixed by Greg Atkinson of Sydney band Big Heavy Stuff.
In November of 1996, the 3-track single "Dean Martin" was released. Early in 1997, the band released a 5-track EP titled Intermission as they recorded their first album, Elsewhere for Eight Minutes, in New Zealand and mixed and mastered it in New York with U.S. producer Brian Paulson. (Brian had previously produced albums for Wilco, Archers of Loaf, Superchunk and Slint, amongst others.) Something for Kate's first full-length album was released in July of 1997. Bass player Julian Carroll was then replaced by Toby Ralph, who toured with the band for the release of the album.
Four singles were released from Elsewhere for Eight Minutes: "Captain (Million miles an hour)", "Prick", "Working Against Me" and "Roll Credit". Bass player Toby Ralph was replaced by Stephanie Ashworth (of Melbourne outfit Sandpit) in March 1998. The band then wrote their second album, Beautiful Sharks, which was released in April of 1999. Beautiful Sharks was recorded in Melbourne, once again by producer Brian Paulson.
Four singles were released from Beautiful Sharks: "Electricity", "Hallways", "Whatever You Want" and "The Astronaut". When the band went on the road with this album they took on an extra touring musician, Wally Gunn, to play the incidental guitar and keyboard parts.
In 2000, as the band were writing for their third album, Murmur released Q & A With Dean Martin, a re-release of the sold-out first EP and single. Also released in 2000 was Big Screen Television, a video collection of 12 of the band's music videos along with some bonus footage.
In June of 2001, the third album, Echolalia, was released. Produced by the band and Trina Shoemaker (whose other recording credits include Queens of the Stone Age, REM, Whiskeytown and Sheryl Crow), Echolalia was recorded at INXS bass-player Garry Gary Beers' Mangrove studio in the Central Coast of NSW.
Four singles were released from Echolalia: "Monsters", "Three Dimensions", "Twenty Years" and "Say Something". When touring this album, the band took on two touring musicians, Pip Branson (ex Sydney band Sidewinder) and Simon Bourke, again, to play the increasing amount of keyboards and extra guitar parts featured on the album.
In 2002 the band released their first DVD, A Diversion, which is a document of the writing, recording and touring of the Echolalia album.
In 2003 the band recorded and released their fourth album, The Official Fiction. Produced once again by the band and Trina Shoemaker at Mangrove studios, it spawned the singles "Deja Vu", "Song for a Sleepwalker", "Best Weapon" and "Moving Right Along".
After supporting David Bowie on the Australian leg of his Reality Tour, the band toured Europe in 2004, taking in Germany, France, Denmark, Scotland, Ireland and the UK, before returned to Australia to release Phantom Limbs, a double album of the band members' and their fans' favourite b-side tracks from over the years.
On the 30th of June 2006, Something for Kate released their fifth album, Desert Lights. Since then, Something for Kate has released 2 singles, Cigarettes and Suitcases which was released on the 5th of May 2006, just under 2 months before the second EP, Oh Kamikaze which was released on the 1st of September 2006.
Beautiful Sharks
Something for Kate Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To make it perfectly clear
He was swimming with some beautiful sharks
Entertaining
The man behind the bar (x2)
And I was there
And somebody was talking about luck
And I thought, I thought what if my luck ran out?
Hottest night in twenty years
He is playing out a ceremony
Playing out a ceremony
Watch him turn on the spot
To see his memory from a different angle
He eased the element of surprise
To curve and sweep lines
And he is singing an old song
He is swimming with some beautiful sharks
And I was there
And somebody was talking about romance
And I thought, I thought what if my luck ran out?
The song Beautiful Sharks by Something for Kate is a vivid portrayal of a feeling of disorientation and uncertainty. The song opens with a woman tracing lines in the air to make something clear, while a man swims with beautiful sharks, acting as entertainment for the man behind the bar. The singer is present in this situation, but their thoughts soon turn to the subject of luck, which leads to a sense of unease. This feeling is reinforced by the chorus, which expresses the idea that there are dangers lurking just beneath the surface and that everything around us is not necessarily what it seems.
As the song progresses, the focus shifts to the experience of a man who is playing out a ceremony. This man is trying to discover his memories from a different angle and he is singing an old song. Meanwhile, the beautiful sharks continue to swim, and the singer is still present, pondering the subject of romance. The song ends with a repetition of the line "and I thought, I thought what if my luck ran out?" creating a sense of tension that pervades the entire song.
Overall, the lyrics of Beautiful Sharks are both poetic and enigmatic, and they capture a sense of uncertainty and unease, that is familiar to us all at times.
Line by Line Meaning
She was tracing out lines in the air
She was drawing invisible lines in the air to convey her message clearly
To make it perfectly clear
The lines were drawn to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation
He was swimming with some beautiful sharks
He was interacting with people who were charming but potentially dangerous
Entertaining
He was enjoying their company and the thrill of their presence
The man behind the bar (x2)
The bartender who was serving drinks at the venue
And I was there
The singer was present at the same venue as the rest of the people singing about
And somebody was talking about luck
A person present at the venue was discussing luck with others
And I thought, I thought what if my luck ran out?
The singer was worried about the possibility of their luck turning against them
Hottest night in twenty years
The weather was extremely hot, similar to a night twenty years ago
He is playing out a ceremony
He is performing a set of actions in a deliberate, ceremonial manner
Watch him turn on the spot
Observe his movement where he turns around in one spot
To see his memory from a different angle
He's trying to perceive and recollect an incident from a different perspective
He eased the element of surprise
He eliminated the 'unexpected' factor, leading to a smoother transition of events
To curve and sweep lines
He's smooth in his actions and the flow of the events is visually flowing like a curve and a sweep
And he is singing an old song
He is performing a familiar, old song to entertain the audience
And somebody was talking about romance
A person at the venue was discussing romance with others
And I thought, I thought what if my luck ran out?
The singer was worried about the possibility of their luck turning against them
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CLINT WESLEY HYNDMAN, PAUL ANTHONY DEMPSEY, STEPHANIE ASHWORTH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind