Centered on a countdown from eleven (spaced out to a fourteen count due to the syllables), “D-Day” follows on from the apocalyptic theme of “Countdown,” featuring an anxious rhythm and the sound of exploding bombs. It’s one of two microtonal songs on Sketches of Brunswick East and is the only instrumental of the two.
The song was played by Alex Brettin (microtonal synthesizer/Optigan), Cavs (drum kit 1/drum kit 2/floor toms/bongo/tambourine), Joey (microtonal bass guitar/shaker) and Stu (microtonal guitar/vocals/Mellotron). When asked if a synth hit heard in the song was lifted from the video game Super Smash Bros. during the band’s 2020 Reddit AMA, Lucas responded he didn’t think so and that Nintendo “would probably sue us” if that was the case. The song was released on August 18th, 2017. “D-Day” is referenced in the music video for “Countdown,” which contains countdowns starting at eleven.
The first known performance of the song was on 2018-02-18 as part of a completely microtonal set at the Croxton Park Hotel in Naarm (Melbourne). The song was part of a suite of “Anoxia” > “D-Day” > “Sleep Drifter” > “The Book.” Throughout February this would be the song’s average spot until March, where it would appear in various different spots. The last known performance from 2018 would be on 2018-03-16, leading to a three year rest. It came back into the rotation on 2021-04-21 as the band began doing entirely microtonal shows following the release of K.G. and L.W.. It would appear three times that year before once again falling off setlists with a one-off performance on 2022-05-22 at the Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale. Live versions of the song do not contain much counting compared to the studio version and don’t deviate from the studio version’s structure.