SOME songs arrive in a flash. Others take years – not because they’re wrong, but because they’re waiting.
For Birds of Tokyo, their latest track Starlights was one of those songs, as founding member and guitarist Adam Spark told Local Ipswich News.
The song began life in late 2020, during a rare pause for the band – a moment when Spark had stepped back from touring to spend time with family while the rest of the band carried on.
“I just started writing a lot,” he said.
“One of the first things that came out of that was this piece we were calling Searchlights.”
What followed was a long, restless evolution. Heavy versions. Pumping rock versions. Studio recordings that technically worked but never quite landed. The band knew the feeling well – that instinctive sense that something isn’t right, even when it’s close.
“We kept parking it,” Spark said.
“Letting it come back when the universe was ready for it.”
The breakthrough came late – very late. A shift in language, from searchlights to stars and starlight, unlocked something the band hadn’t been able to name.
“When we handed it in, our team were like, ‘This feels like it’s about this … or that,’” Spark said.
“That’s when the Starlight Foundation collaboration came into it. We didn’t see that at all at first.
“What it means to everyone else is so different to what it meant to us. But now it kind of means the same thing. It’s pretty weird.”
That openness – allowing songs to find their meaning through the people who hear them – has been part of Birds of Tokyo’s DNA for more than two decades. From Plans and Lanterns to Good Lord and I’d Go With You Anywhere, their music carries an unmistakable emotional fingerprint.
Birds of Tokyo themselves came together almost by accident in the early 2000s, evolving from demo sessions into something more serious without a clear moment of arrival. Spark remembers hearing Broken Bones on
triple j for the first time, driving around Perth.
“The way they announced it – I just thought, ‘I think this is a thing now,” he said.
Milestones followed: Big Day Out, time in the US, steady momentum. But it wasn’t until their massive track Plans hit around 2010-11 that everything truly flew.
Two decades on, longevity brings both privilege and pressure. Spark speaks candidly about the weight of expectations – the tension between delivering what people love and pushing into new territory.
But now, standing on stage, watching songs connect in real time, the perspective has shifted.
“There’s a huge sense of appreciation,” he said. “You walk out and see what this music means to people.”
That reflection has led the band to a bold decision. Recently, they wiped the slate clean – deleting years of material from their Dropbox and choosing to start again.
“We just deleted everything,” Spark said. “Burned the house down.”
When they regroup in the studio in coming weeks, everyone will come armed with ideas, writing fast and together – the way they work best.
As for the upcoming Starlights tour, Spark promises energy, joy and a band itching to play.
The set will span eras, moods and moments – a full arc of a band that has evolved in public but never lost its emotional core.
“At the end of the day, audiences will see a group of boys excited to perform again. It’s going to be good fun,” Spark said.
After 20 years, perhaps that’s the real achievement: still searching, still listening, and still finding the light – even if it has taken time to get there.
Birds of Tokyo bring their Starlights tour to Racehorse Hotel on Feburary 6 with tickets available at oztix.
