CHILDCARE address masculinity and vulnerability on stripped-back pop track "Man Down"

Formed by lead singer Ed Cares back in 2016, CHILDCARE have steadily built up a reputation for their often thought-provoking, hook-laden brand of staccato guitar pop.

With their latest offering, they cut down to the absolute bare essentials with a basic drumbeat and almost nursery rhyme simplicity to the main vocal melody in the chorus. This stripped-back simplicity and blatant bare-faced innocence only enhances the song's main message that addresses toxic masculinity and, in Cares' own words, acts as "a rallying cry to my fellow man; be vulnerable, be open, be sensitive and don't be afraid to moisturise your knuckles if they get dry.”

It's sensitive, but despite its serious subject matter, it still retains CHILDCARE's knack for finding infectious melodies and harmonies that shimmer with a glorious pop sheen.

Speaking on the making of the song, Cares also adds “I really love this song, but it took months to come together. In fact it was never intended to have any drums; our producer Ben just set up the really simple drum beat for us to play along to when recording and voila, it worked so well we kept it! I don't think I could put it much better than Dickens, who I believe said "unintended consequences, for example like using a drum beat as a metronome, can often offer the most vibrant of surprises."