Pond is an Australian neo-psych pop group conceived by members of Tame Impala's touring band. Their music blends the creative wanderlust of psychedelia both past and present with the clean instrumental lines of indie pop and a dash of prog rock for seasoning. Pond's early recordings (2010's Frond and 2012's Beard, Wives, Denim) suggested the sound and approach of a band primarily recording live in the studio, but as they gained confidence, their production gained a new sturdiness, and 2017's The Weather, 2019's Tasmania, and 2021's 9 revealed a synth pop influence without betraying the group's vision.

Hailing from Perth, Pond were conceived by two members of Tame Impala's touring group, guitarist Nick Allbrook and drummer Jay Watson. Multi-instrumentalists Allbrook and Watson formed Pond 2008, with Joe Ryan and Jamie Terry filling out the lineup, and a variety of drummers keeping the beat behind the foursome. Initially intended as a collaborative project that would allow the members to bring in other musicians when they desired, Pond debuted with a pair of self-released albums, 2008's Psychedelic Mango and 2009's Corridors of Blissterday, both of which received little public notice on initial release. Their third studio album, Frond, was released in 2010 on Hole in the Sky, an idiosyncratic independent label. That same year, Tame Impala enjoyed a breakthrough success with the album Innerspeaker, helping to boost Pond's profile as well. Their next album, 2012's Beard, Wives, Denim, was issued by Modular Recordings, the same Australian label that worked with Tame Impala, and Pond became a high-profile buzz band.

By the end of May 2013, Allbrook had played his final show with Tame Impala as he focused on the production and promotion of Pond's succinct and dark fifth album Hobo Rocket, among other projects. In 2014, the band holed up in a small studio for a period of weeks, producing their far more colorful, triumphant, and unexpectedly funky sixth album, 2015's Man, It Feels Like Space Again, their first release for Universal Australia. The album title was allegedly muttered in an altered state of consciousness by Ryan during the album's tracking. With reference to both sociopolitical and meteorological developments at the time, The Weather followed in 2017 and offered a synth poppier version of their trippy indie rock. The electronic elements of their approach became an even bigger part of Pond's sound on 2019's Tasmania, which featured production assistance from Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. A pair of bubbling synth-pop singles, "Pink Lunettes" and "America's Cup," arrived in early 2021 ahead of the release of the full-length 9 later that year. ~ Jason Lymangrover & Mark Deming, Rovi