“The Things That Make Me Happy”—the driving new single from Greg Williams’ album Stone On Stone—comes on like New Order doing “In Between Days”.

Propelled by an ear-worm guitar riff from Ashley Naylor, it’s a 3:42 road trip that somehow teeters between hope and despair, with The Go-Betweens on the radio.

The release of “The Things That Make Me Happy” (Single Edit) on 18 November follows the 30 September launch of Stone On Stone, the first solo album this century by Greg Williams, the singer-songwriter behind The Young Homebuyers, Play Loud, The Everys and Splurge.

“Definitely a contender for album of the year or any year for that matter.”—Wally Salem, The Beautiful Music, via Twitter/X.

“The album is a hidden gem, made with love, wit, care and compassion… one of the best indie guitar albums of the year.”—Rob Morgan, A Goldfish Called Regret.

The new album takes the timeless songwriting craft of Crowded House and Oasis, and blends all that with a love letter to the raw sound of classic Australian rock music, featuring Ashley Naylor (Paul Kelly, The Church, The Stems, Even) and cemented by the punchy production of Kevin Shirley (Divinyls, Hoodoo Gurus, Silverchair, Cold Chisel), to announce his late arrival as a solo artist.

Greg has released a dozen albums on major and independent labels and toured nationally, with his catalogue spanning garage pop, folk pop, lo-fi singer-songwriter and Brit-pop flavoured indie rock.

MOJO magazine heard the ghost of Lennon in his expressive and emotionally direct voice, keen eye for pop treats and innate ability to meld melody and mood, while others heard echoes of Neil Finn, Grant McLennon and “Liam from Oasis with a brain”.

Reviewers in the USA and UK dug deeper… Beatle-esque, “Out radiates” Radiohead, classic early Oasis, the jangle of The Church and Teenage Fanclub.

Greg is already working on a follow-up, again with Ashley Naylor, the acoustic guitar-driven album “Castaway”.

“The Things That Make Me Happy” music video will premiere on 2 December.