Baby Smith
Three Tanners Bank, Tynemouth
Friday 18th September 2026
Doors at 19:00
Ray Sonder and Saxon Gable grew up in sleepy beach towns on Australia’s east coast. Their parents were hippies and rockers. They were spoon fed Nirvana and The Beatles on the car stereo whether they liked it or not. Both self taught musicians, they began writing songs from an early age, evoking the quiet beaches of Byron Bay and the wild Gondwana Rainforest that were their back yards.
By university, they were writing hazy, sun-kissed demos to upload online and burn onto CDs for their friends. Inspired by technicolour, small-town beatniks and surfers, and the romantic soundtracks of their early youth, the foundations of Baby Smith were laid a long time ago. But neither Saxon nor Ray knew each other yet, despite likely crossing paths.
The pair each moved to Berlin from Sydney separately and within two weeks of each other to explore new subcultures and write songs. They met, and soon married, spiritually united by their affection for the whimsical, intimate, deeply melodic sounds of 1960s psychedelia and 1990s Grunge. What followed their creative union was musical exploration and experiments that led to the genesis of Baby Smith in 2023.
Since then, Ray and Saxon have had their foot firmly on the gas, writing, producing, and releasing EP I and EP II. However, there is stark contrast between their early music and their debut album 'Lately, Love Is Dead'. Written entirely in their Berlin flat using a deliberately stripped-back home setup including dented microphones, a broken mic stand, and a glitching 12-year-old interface, the record trades the sun-kissed haze of their early releases for something darker, sharper and more immediate. The songwriting carries new weight; the production feels urgent and alive. It sounds like the duo have jumped into a whole new sonic universe, and it's catchy as hell!Thematically, the album wrestles with the human experience at close range: love and loss, self-doubt and self-loathing, fractured relationships, substance abuse within inner circles, and a simmering disillusionment with modern life and the digital status quo. What began without a fixed concept gradually revealed itself as a portrait of a specific, volatile period in their lives.
Their creative collaboration drives the project. Ray approaches writing with philosophical intention and precision; Saxon works instinctively, often guided by texture and feel. A devoted film enthusiast, Saxon drew visual inspiration for the album from Gummo by Harmony Korine, while the band’s wider artistic references stretch from André Courrèges to Suzanne Valadon and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Baby Smith have had a busy start to the project which has seen the duo sell out their debut London, Berlin and Dublin headlines, play across eight countries, and support King Hannah, Sarah Klang, Cousin Kula and Lo Moon. Baby Smith are set to hit the road again in 2026 with a UK & EU tour in support of “Lately, Love Is Dead”, which is set for release July 10th.
